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FROEBECS  OCCUPATIONS 

BY  KTH-e   DOUGLT^S  WIS6IN 
KND  NORA  T^RCHIBALD  SMITH 


^^ 


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THE 

REPUBLIC   OF   CHILDHOOD 

BY 

KATE  DOUGLAS  WIGGIN 

AND 

NORA  ARCHIBALD    SMITH 


II 

FROEBELS  OCCUPATIONS 


€lf)e  iScpublic  of  arfjilbgDoti 

The  Kindergarten  is  the  free  republic  of  childhood.  —  Frohbkl. 


FROEBEL'S   OCCUPATIONS 


BY 

KATE   DOUGLAS  WIGGIN 

AND  "' 

NORA  ARCHIBALD  SMITH 


Properly  thou  hast  no  other  knowledge  but  what  thou  hast  got 
by  working.  —  Carlylb 

The  entire  object  of  true  education  is  to  make  people  not 
merely  do  the  right  things,  but  enjoy  them  —  not  merely 
industrious,,  but  to  love  industry.  —  Ruskin 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,   MIFFLIN   AND   COMPANY 

1900 


Copyright,  1896, 
By  KATE  DOUGLAS  RIG&S 

AND 

NORA  ARCHIBALD  SMITH. 
All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  and  Company. 


CONTENTS 


PAOl 


The    Kindekgarten    Gifts   and    Occupations  con- 
sidered AS  A  Whole 1 

Perforating 24 

Sewing 40 

Drawing 62 

Linear  Drawing 69 

A  Handful  of   Similes  on    Dictation  versus   In- 
vention         89 

Objections  to  Linear  Drawing 91 

Outline  Drawing 98 

Circular  Drawing Ill 

Freehand  and  Nature  Drawing      ....  125 

The  Thread  Game 141 

Paper  Interlacing 148 

Slat  Interlacing 156 

Weaving 166 

Paper  Cutting 192 

Paper  Folding 214 

Peas  Work 241 

Clay  Modeling 253 

Miscellaneous  Occupations 273 

Sand  Work 290 

General  Remarks  on  the  Occupations      .       .       .  309 


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Synoptical  Table  of  the  Gifts  akd  Occupations  SHOwiNa 

THE  Connection  between  the  Kindergarten  and  School, 

[Mme.  A.  de  Portugall.] 


FROEBEL'S  OCCUPATIONS 


THE   KINDERGARTEN  GIFTS   AND  OCCU- 
PATIONS CONSIDERED  AS  A  WHOLE 

"  These  employments  aimi  at  and  produce,  first  of  all,  in  man, 
an  all-sided  development  and  presentation  of  his  nature ;  they 
are,  in  general,  the  needful  food  for  the  spirit;  they  are  the 
ether  in  which  the  spirit  breathes  and  lives  that  it  may  gain 
power,  strength,  and,  I  might  add,  extent,  because  the  spiritual 
qualities  given  by  God  to  man,  which  proceed  from  his  spirit  in 
all  directions  with  irresistible  necessity,  necessarily  appear  as 
manif oldness,  and  must  be  satisfied  as  such,  and  met  in  manifold 
directions."  ^ 

The  gifts,  occupations,  and  recreative  exercises 
of  the   kindergarten   were   devised   by 
Froebel  to   satisfy  what  he  terms  the  Kmdergar- 

.  ,         ,  ,  ...  ri  I'll       ^^  satisfy 

eisrht  instinctive  activities  of  the  child,   instincts  of 

^  If  1       .  1.  1         .  ChUdhoocL 

"  for  play,  for  producing,  for  shaping, 
for  knowledge,  for  society,  and  for  cultivating  the 
ground."  Professor  William  James,  with  some- 
what differing  insight,  divides  the  instincts  of 
children  into  four,  which  he  considers  funda- 
mental, namely,  "  construction,  imitation,  emula- 
^  Froebel's  Education  of  Man,  page  269  (tr.  by  J.  Jarvis). 


2    KINBERGABTEN  GIFTS  AND  OCCUPATIONS 

tion,  and  ownership."  These  also  are  satisfied  in 
the  kindergarten,  though  we  endeavor  to  trans- 
late emulation  into  aspiration,  and  overweening 
desire  for  private  ownership  into  a  willingness 
and  an  ability  to  use  all  possessions  for  the  com- 
mon good. 

It  cannot  but  be  seen  that  although  the  gifts 
Their  Domi-  and  occupatious  of  the  kindergarten 
pose.  appeal  to  numberless  minor  needs  and 

desires  of  the  child,  their  dominant  purpose  is 
the  development  of  creative  seK-activity,  and  that 
while  they  serve  to  interpret  the  external  world 
to  him,  they  at  the  same  time  give  adequate  ex- 
pression to  his  internal  world.  It  is  in  his  con- 
ception of  the  value  of  creative  activity,  of  the 
essential  relation  of  impression  and  expression, 
of  the  beauty  and  spiritual  meaning  of  true  work, 
of  production,  that  Froebel  differentiates  himself 
from  all  other  educators. 

In  that  wonderful  volume  of  his  letters,  which 
discloses  on  every  page  his  lofty  enthusiasm,  his 
devotion,  patience,  courage,  self-sacrifice,  single- 
mindedness,  —  his  inspiration,  in  fact,  for  such 
indeed  it  was,  —  are  the  following  words  in  rela- 
tion to  the  instrumentalities  of  the  kindergarten, 
and  we  give  them  entire  as  a  commentary  upon 
the  man  and  his  work :  — 

"  I  mean  that  we  shall  be  borne  onward  into 
the  very  heart  of  practical  Christianity  through 
these  games  and  occupations  of   little   children, 


CONSIDERED  AS  A    WHOLE  3 

which  we  are  contriving  with  such  attention, 
loving  care,  inward  watchfuhiess,  and  outward 
work.  In  the  first  place,  we  thus  avoid  all  those 
sad  consequences  which  arise  from  the  neglect  of 
children  in  their  earliest  years.  For  the  great 
friend  of  children  has  said  :  '  Whoso  shall  offend 
one  of  these  little  ones  which  believe  in  me,  it 
were  better  for  him  that  a  millstone  were  hanged 
about  his  neck,  and  that  he  were  drowned  in  the 
depth  of  the  sea.'  And  how  many,  many  chil- 
dren, often  very  tiny  ones,  are  there  not  who  are 
*  offended '  in  Jesus'  sense  of  the  word  by  the 
weariness  which  comes  of  doing  nothing,  or  by 
being  forced  into  unsuitable  occupations !  In 
the  second  place,  also,  we  are  fulfilling  one  of 
the  weightiest  commands  of  Jesus,  which  he  puts 
into  the  words,  '  Whosoever  shall  not  receive  the 
kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child,  shall  in  no 
wise  enter  therein.'  Now  the  kingdom  of  God 
is  the  kingdom  of  unity,  of  union,  of  unifica- 
tion, of  unison,  of  concord,  of  love,  of  peace,  of 
law,  of  introspection,  of  perception  of  the  inner 
essence  which  underlies  outer  manifestations.  It 
is  the  kingdom  of  social  union,  of  trustfulness, 
of  belief,  of  hope ;  it  is  that  province  of  the  ob- 
servation of  the  small  which  concerns  it  as  mem- 
ber and  part  of  the  large,  of  the  near  as  germ 
of  the  far,  etc.  And  all  this  will  be,  by  means 
of  these  games  and  occupations,  early  awakened, 
nourished,  cared  for,  and  developed  in  the  child. 


4    KINBEBGARTEN  GIFTS  AND  OCCUPATIONS 

Herein  lies  the  secret  of  the  success  which  results 
from  the  operation  of  this  system  of  organized 
occupations,  a  success  often  apparently  inexpli- 
cable, and  by  many  spoken  of  as  its  'magical 
effect ; '  herein  lies  that  hallowing  influence  which 
extends  its  attitude  of  belief  and  trust  (that  is, 
the  childlike,  motherly,  brotherly  attitude)  over 
the  whole  life  of  the  child,  and  which  from  this 
beginning  spreads  ever  widening  throughout  the 
whole  family.  For  God's  will  is  to  give  help  to 
all  mankind,  and  that  every  one  should  attain  to 
the  knowledge  of  truth  through  the  means  which 
He  has  made  manifest  in  the  inner  being  of  the 
universe  of  living  creatures.  These  means  are 
displayed  in  the  phenomena  of  all  creation,  and 
before  all  else  in  the  soul,  in  the  mind  and  in  the 
hand,  as  well  of  each  man  in  his  individual 
capacity,  as  of  the  vast  collective  unity  of  man- 
kind, held  together  by  God."  ^ 

The  series  of  kindergarten  gifts  and  occupa- 
Connection  tious  wcrc  the  fruit  of  about  fifteen 
trast°be-^"'  y^ars'  study,  thought,  reflection,  repeated 
^rSc^upa-  trial,  and  wide  experience  on  Froebel's 
'^°"^'  part,  and  they  have  as  yet  received  little 

essential  modification  from  the  kindergartners  of 
to-day.  The  two  series  show  many  points  of 
resemblance  in  their  purpose  and  in  their  appeal 
to  the  child,  and  Froebel  himself  did  not,  in  writ- 

^  Froebel's  Letters  on  the  Kindergarten,  translated  and  anno- 
tated by  Emilie  Miehaelis  and  H.  Keatley  Moore,  page  56. 


CONSIDERED  AS  A   WHOLE  5 

ing  at  least,  make  any  marked  distinction  between 
them.  It  is  evident  at  once,  however,  that  their 
chief  connection  lies  in  the  fact  that  impression 
made  through  the  gifts  is  converted  into  expres- 
sion in  the  occupations.^  The  four  essential 
points  of  contrast  between  them  may  be  consid- 
ered to  be  the  following :  — 

a.  The  gifts  are  analytic,  the  occupations  syn- 
thetic. 

b.  In  the  gifts  there  is  investigation,  combina- 
tion, rearrangement  of  certain  definite  material, 
but  no  change  in  its  form  ;  in  the  occupations  the 
material  is  modified,  reshaped,  and  transformed. 

c.  The  results  obtained  in  gift  work  are  transi- 
tory, in  the  occupations  permanent. 

d.  The  gifts  ascend  from  solid  through  divided 
solid,  plane,  divided  plane,  and  line,  to  the  point ; 
the  occupations  begin  at  the  point  and  travel  the 
same  road  in  an  opposite  direction,  until  they 
reach  the  solid. 

It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  commonly 
only  the  first  six  gifts  are  introduced  in  regular 
succession,  and  that  the  last  four  (tablets,  sticks, 
rings,  and  seeds)  are  made  supplementary  to  the 

1  The  kindergarten  wisely  selects  a  series  of  objects  that  lead 
to  the  useful  possession  of  certain  geometric  and  numerical 
concepts  that  assist  in  grasping  all  things  in  their  inorganic 
aspects.  ...  In  the  occupations  the  child  finds  relations  to  the 
fundamental  geometric  shapes  that  he  has  learned  to  know,  and 
he  sees  with  clearness  and  precision  how  to  realize  ideas."  (W. 
T.  Harris.) 


6    KINBEBGAETEN  GIFTS  AND  OCCUPATIONS 

first  six,  and  used  interchangeably  witli  the 
occupations,  while  regular  occupation  material 
is  provided  to  embody  the  results  produced  by 
them  in  permanent  form.  So  far  as  our  experi- 
ence goes  also,  the  occupations  are  seldom  intro- 
duced in  regular  order  of  development  (from 
point  to  solid)  but  are  almost  invariably  used  as 
companions  and  helpmates  of  the  gifts. 

Dr.  W.  N.  Hailmann  gives  the  distinction 
between  the  two  series  as  follows  :  — 

"  A  gift  gives  the  child  a  new  cosmos,  and  the 
occupation  fixes  the  impressions  made  by  the 
gift. 

"  The  gift  invites  only  arranging  activities,  the 
occupation  invites  also  controlling,  modifying, 
transforming  activities. 

"  The  gift  leads  to  discovery  ;  the  occupation  to 
invention.  The  gift  gives  insight;  the  occupa- 
tion, power." 

Another  slight  distinction  between  them,  de- 
pendent upon  the  second  point  of  contrast,  is  that 
"alteration  and  transformation  of  the  occupa- 
tion material  can  only  be  contrived  by  the  help 
of  simple  tools :  "  ^  the  steel  weaving  needle,  the 
wooden  modeling  knife,  the  "  creaser  "  for 
paper  interlacing,  the  wooden  pointer  for  the 
thread  game,  the  steel  pricking  and  sewing  nee- 
dles and  scissors,  the  pencils,  the  paint,  and  mu- 
cilage brushes.     None  of  these  are  necessary  in 

1  Hermann  Poesche. 


CONSIDERED  AS  A    WHOLE  7 

the  gifts,  of  course,  as  no  alteration  of  the  material 
is  either  possible  or  desirable. 

The  ideal  gifts,  according  to  Dr.  Hailmann, 
should  satisfy  the  following  conditions :   The  ideal 

"  1.  They  should,  each  in  its  time,  occupation. 
fully  represent  the  child's  outer  world  (macro- 
cosm). 

"  2.  They  should,  each  in  its  time,  enable  the 
child  to  give  satisfactory  expression  in  play  to  its 
inner  world  (microcosm). 

"  3.  Each  gift  should,  therefore,  in  itself  rep- 
resent a  complete,  orderly  whole  or  unit. 

"  4.  Each  gift  should  contain  all  the  preceding, 
and  foreshadow  all  the  succeeding  gifts. 

"  In  short,  each  gift  should,  in  its  time,  aid  the 
child  '  to  make  the  external  internal  and  the  in- 
ternal external '  in  the  widest  sense." 

It  has  been  claimed  that  any  occupation  which 
might  be  devised  would  be  Froebelian,  if  we 
adhered  closely  to  three  points :  simplicity,  con- 
tinuity, and  unity.  This  statement,  however, 
although  true  in  one  sense,  is  contradicted  by  the 
fact  that  the  occupations  developed  by  Froebel 
correspond  not  only  to  those  which  have  always 
been  in  use  among  mothers  and  children,  but 
also  (in  essentials)  to  the  primeval  arts.  They 
may  be,  as  they  already  have  been,  changed, 
modified,  and  supplemented,  but  they  cannot  be 
altogether  superseded,  for  they  are  based  on  the 
universal  instincts  of  childhood. 


8    KINDEBGABTEN  GIFTS  AND  OCCUPATIONS 

Mr.  H.  Courthope  Bowen  says  in  this  regard : 
"  It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  any 
manual  work  will  do  as  an  occupation.  All  hon- 
est work,  certainly,  produces  a  good  effect ;  and 
domestic  service  —  which  is  a  child's  public  ser- 
vice —  most  certainly  ennobles  a  child,  and,  in- 
deed, all  of  us.  But  just  as  in  the  songs  and 
games,  so  here  —  a  choice  has  to  be  made ;  and 
what  is  chosen  has  to  be  adapted  to  the  kinder- 
garten purpose,  —  the  purpose  of  mental,  physical, 
and  moral  development.  Not  only  has  the  mate- 
rial of  an  occupation  to  be  easy  for  a  child  to 
manipulate,  and  well  fitted  for  the  work  required 
of  it ;  but  the  occupation  in  itself  must  be  varied 
and  many-sided  in  its  educative  power ;  must  not 
be  simply  imitative  ;  must  draw  into  itself  what 
has  gone  before  and  reach  out  to  what  is  to 
follow ;  and  must  distinctly  form  a  part  of  the 
organic  unity  of  the  whole  kindergarten  pro- 
cess." ^ 

The  aim  of  the  kindergarten,  as  has  been  re- 
peatedly said,  is  to  strengthen  and  develop  pro- 
ductive activity,  "  but  we  must  be  conscious  of 
ideas  before  we  can  express  them,  and  we  must 
gain  the  mastery  of  material  before  we  can  use 
it  as  a  means  of  expression.  Hence  the  first  use 
of  the  gifts  is  to  waken  by  their  suggestiveness 
the  mind's  sleeping  thoughts,  and  the  first  use  of 

^  H.  Courthope  Bowen,  Froebel  and  Education  by  Self  Activ- 
ity, page  149. 


CONSIDERED  AS  A   WHOLE  9 

the  occupations  to  train  the  eye  and  the  mind  to 
be  the  ready  servants  of  the  will." 

While  the  occupations  as  a  whole  apply  the 
principles  suggested  by  the  gifts,  particular  occu- 
pations connect  with  particular  gifts.  Let  us 
review  briefly  the  latter  series  before  beginning 
in  detail  upon  the  former,  that  we  may  see  more 
clearly  the  distinctive  value  of  each  and  the  way 
in  which  the  one  complements  the  other.^ 

The  list  of  Froebel's  gifts  begins  with  the  ball, 
an  object  comprising  in  itseK,  in  the  The  Gifts 
simplest  manner,  the  general  qualities  First  Gift.* 
of  aU  things.  As  the  starting-point  of  form,  — 
the  spherical,  —  it  gives  the  first  impression  of 
knowledge  in  this  direction,  and  being  the  most 
easily  moved  of  aU  objects  is  symbolical  of  life. 
It  is  as  easily  grasped  by  the  hand  as  by  the  mind, 
and  becomes  the  first  known  object  with  which 
aU  other  objects  for  the  child's  after  play  and 
instruction  are  brought  into  relation.  Besides 
teaching  form,  the  balls  are  also  intended  to  teach 
color,  hence  their  number  of  six,  representing  the 
six  standard  colors  derived  from  the  spectrum. 

For  the  purpose  of  acquiring  clear,  distinct, 
and  correct  ideas  of  things  around  us,  it  is  indis- 
pensably necessary  to  become  acquainted  with 
them  in  aU  respects  and  relations.  The  ball  is 
therefore  made  the  object  of  a  great  variety  of 
plays  and  exercises  in  order  that  the  child  may 

^  The  gifts  are  treated  in  detail  in  a  previous  volume. 


10     EINBERGABTEN  GIFTS  AND  OCCUPATIONS 

know  through  actual  experience  all  its  qualities 
and  uses. 

FroebeFs  second  gift,  which  consists  of  a 
Second  wooden  sphere,  cube,  and  cylinder,  is 
^"*'  connected   with   the   former    gift,   and 

foreshadows  that  which  is  to  come.  It  empha- 
sizes contrasts,  suggests  variety,  and  is  most  valu- 
able in  form  teaching,  since  we  never  so  well 
understand  the  qualities  of  any  object  as  when 
we  see  it  confronted  with  its  opposite.  The  new 
material  of  the  gift  and  hence  its  greater  weight 
and  density  and  greater  capability  of  sound  are 
so  many  added  charms  to  the  child,  while  he  par- 
ticularly delights  in  the  revolution  of  the  three 
solids  and  the  different  geometrical  forms  which 
are  thus  produced. 

These  three  whole  bodies,  introduced  as  funda- 
mental or  normal  forms  in  which  all  qualities  of 
whole  bodies  in  general  are  demonstrated  and 
which  serve  to  convey  the  idea  of  wholeness,  are 
followed  by  the  introduction  of  variously  divided 
solid  bodies,  viz. :  the  third,  fourth,  fifth,  and 
sixth  gifts,  or  the  building  gifts. 

Of  the  normal  forms  with  which  Froebel  be- 
The  Build-  S^^^f  ^®  leavcs  the  sphere  and  cylinder 
mg  Gifts.  ^^^  chooses  the  one  greatest  in  possi- 
bilities, the  cube,  for  a  source  whence,  by  strictly 
systematized  analysis,  the  rest  may  be  obtained. 
Without  a  division  of  the  whole,  observation  and 
recognition  are  next  to  impossible.    The  rational 


CONSIDERED  AS  A   WHOLE  11 

investigation,  the  dissecting  and  dividing  by  tlie 
mind,  —  in  short,  analysis,  —  should  be  preceded 
by  a  like  process  in  real  objects  if  the  mind  is 
to  be  fitted  to  reflect  intelligently  upon  Nature. 

Division  performed  at  random,  however,  can 
never  give  a  clear  idea  of  the  whole  or  its  parts ; 
but  a  regular  division  in  accordance  with  certain 
philosophical  laws  is  absolutely  essential. 

The  orders  in  the  vegetable  kingdom  are  dis- 
tinguished according  to  form  and  number  of 
parts,  and  Froebel  here  borrowed  from  Nature 
a  guide  which  led  him  in  systematizing  the 
means  of  developing  the  young  mind. 

The  first  of  the  building  gifts  is  a  two-inch 
block,  the  same  size  as  the  second  gift  ^he  Third 
cube,  divided  once  in  each  dimension  ^'**^" 
producing  eight  smaller  cubes.  Now  the  child 
becomes  a  maker  and  a  builder,  new  revelations 
of  his  power  come  to  him  at  every  turn ;  he  has 
found  an  object  which  he  can  use  to  express  the 
ideas  that  are  stirring  within  him.  "  Every  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  child  here,  as  in  the  building 
gifts,  to  create  something  of  definite  form  or  of 
definite  purpose  is  a  training  of  both  the  powers 
of  thought  and  volition  as  well  as  a  gratification 
of  worthy  desires."  ^ 

Here,  too,  we  see  the  beginning  of  arithmetical 
processes,  only  faintly  suggested  in  the  second 
gift,  while  geometry  is  carried  on  still  more  fully. 

1  Dr.  C.  C.  Van  Liew. 


12    KINDERGARTEN  GIFTS  AND  OCCUPATIONS 

The  fourth  gift,  another  cube,  is  so  divided  as 
The  Fourth  *^  form  eight  parallelepipeds  or  bricks 
®"*'  two  inches  long,  one  inch  wide,  and  one 

half  inch  thick.  We  gain  little  new  mathemati- 
cal knowledge  here,  only  fresh  ways  of  presenting 
the  old  truths,  but  find  greatly  increased  facilities 
for  teaching  dimension,  and  certain  problems  of 
equilibrium  presented  in  most  attractive  guise. 

Next  comes  the  fifth  gift,  a  larger  block  cut 
The  Fifth  twice  in  each  dimension,  producing 
^^"'  twenty-seven  cubes,  three  of  which  are 

cut  in  halves  and  three  in  quarters.  The  trian- 
gular prisms  of  two  sizes  which  now  appear,  as 
well  as  the  greatly  increased  amount  of  material, 
open  a  wide  field  in  building,  while  knowledge 
in  geometry,  arithmetic,  and  philosophy  grows 
constantly  wider  and  more  accurate. 

The  sixth  gift,  a  cube  the  same  size  as  the 
The  Sixth  ^ith,  is  divided  into  eighteen  bricks,  six 
^"**  columns  (or  bricks  cut  lengthwise),  and 

twelve  square  faced  blocks  (or  bricks  cut  breadth- 
wise). It  far  surpasses  all  the  others  in  the  beauty 
of  the  forms  it  produces,  and  thus  fitly  closes  the 
series  of  the  building  gifts. 

The  logical  combination  of  parts  to  a  whole 
From  things  which  is  required  in  using  these  blocks 
to  thought,  renders  them  a  preparatory  occupation 
for  succeeding  combinations  of  thought,  for  the 
right  construction  of  parts  into  a  whole  always 
follows  certain  laws,  thereby  forming  a  serial  con- 


I 


CONSIDERED  AS  A   WHOLE  13 

nection  which  in  Nature  is  represented  by  the 
linking  of  all  organisms.  As  Nature  in  the  or- 
ganic world  begins  to  form  by  agglomeration,  so 
the  child  in  his  first  occupations  commences  with 
mere  accumulation  of  parts.  Order,  however,  is 
requisite  to  lead  to  the  beautiful  in  the  visible 
world,  as  logic  is  indispensable  for  the  formation 
of  clear  ideas  in  the  world  of  thought,  and  Froe- 
bel's  law  of  linking  opposites  affords  the  most  reli- 
able and  simplest  guide  to  this  end.  Thus  below 
and  above  are  opposites  in  relation  to  which  the 
right  and  left  side  of  the  form  or  figure  built 
serve  as  mediative  parts.  Carrying  out  this  prin- 
ciple, we  have  established  an  admirable  order  by 
which  even  the  youngest  child  often  produces, 
though  unknowingly,  charming  and  symmetrical 
results. 

In  the  seventh  gift  we  pass  from  solid  to  plane, 
a  step  which  was  hinted  at  in  the  bricks  ^he  seventh 
of  the  fourth  gift,  and  more  definitely  ^^'" 
suggested  in  the  sixth.  The  tablets  are  made  of 
thin  wood  or  pasteboard,  introduce  color  for  the 
first  time  since  the  first  gift,  and  show  the  one- 
inch  square,  the  right  isosceles,  equilateral,  right 
scalene,  and  obtuse  isosceles  triangles.  Very  beau-  . 
tiful  designs  can  be  made  with  the  tablets,  and 
they  offer  such  facilities  for  instruction  in  plane 
geometry  as  to  warrant  their  systematic  use  in  the 
school. 

The  slats  of  the  eighth  gift  given  for  the  play 


14     EINDEBGAETEN  GIFTS  AND  OCCUPATIONS 
of  interlacing,  form  the  transition  from  the  plane 
The  Eighth    *^   ^^^  -^i^®?  resembling  the  latter,  al- 
^^^'  though,  owing  to  their  width,  still  occu- 

pying space  as  a  plane.  The  staffs  or  sticks  (also 
eighth  gift),  representing  the  embodied  line  it- 
self, facilitate  the  elements  of  drawing,  serving  as 
movable  outlines  of  planes.  The  slats  and  sticks 
are  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  divided  plane  in 
order  to  adhere  to  their  connection  and  relation 
with  the  form  from  which  we  started. 

The  stick  or  straight  line  is  then  followed  by 
The  Ninth  *'^®  ninth  gift  or  curved  line  shown  in 
CHft.  whole,  haK,  and  quarter  circles,  or  wire 

rings  of  three  different  sizes. 

The  stick  and  ring  might  perhaps  be  con- 
sidered as  one  gift,  illustrating  the  straight  and 
curved  lines.  The  former  is  especially  well  cal- 
culated for  number  work,  and  both  gifts  offer 
abundant  materials  for  invention,  while  the  intro- 
duction of  the  curve  is  of  great  advantage  as 
offering  relief  to  the  rectilinear  character  of  pre- 
vious designs. 

The  last  link  in  the  chain  of  gifts  is  the  tenth, 
The  Tenth  which  by  mcans  of  seeds,  shells,  pebbles, 
^^*'  etc.,  illustrates   the  point.      These  are 

used  as  a  direct  preparation  for  the  occupation  of 
perforating,  and  serve  for  outlining  various  objects 
on  the  tables,  for  making  lines,  angles,  and  geo- 
metrical figures,  and  for  general  designing. 

Thus  the  child  has  been  guided  in  a  logical 


CONSIDERED  AS  A    WHOLE  15 

manner  from  the  solid  body  through  its  divisions, 
and  through  the  embodied  plane,  line,  and  point, 
in  matter  and  by  matter  to  the  borders  of  the 
abstract,  and  if  the  work  in  the  occupations  has 
been  properly  done  and  if  the  other  instrumentali- 
ties of  the  kindergarten  have  been  wisely  man- 
aged, the  child  is  ready  to  build  the  conventional 
studies  of  the  school  upon  the  foundation  of  his 
objective  knowledge. 

The  occupations  begin  with  the  point  which 
closed  the  series  of  gifts,  and  progress  j^^^  occupa- 
toward  the  solid,  thus  tracing  the  other  ^^°^' 
half  of  the  circle  of  kindergarten  instrumentali- 
ties. As  they  will  be  discussed  in  full  in  later 
chapters,  they  will  receive  only  brief  description 
here.  First  in  logical  order  comes  the  occupation 
of  perforating,  the  materials  for  which 
are  a  stout  needle  set  in  a  handle,  and  ^  °^  ^' 
suitable  sizes  of  cardboard.  The  work  produced 
is  very  pretty  and  delicate,  and  with  the  addition 
of  squared  paper  folded  over  the  card,  any  lines, 
angles,  or  geometrical  figures  may  be  made,  as 
well  as  objects  connected  with  the  child's  life  and 
pleasing  to  his  fancy. 

The  kindergarten  sewing  is  closely  connected 
with  pricking,  as  all  lines,  forms,  and 
designs  which  the  child  sews  must  first      ^"^^' 
be  perforated.     With  a  large  worsted  needle  and 
zephyr  of  bright  hues  he  follows  the  perforated 
design  upon  the  cardboard ;  or,  the  whole  surface 


16     KINDERGARTEN  GIFTS  AND  OCCUPATIONS 

being  pricked  with  holes  an  equal  distance  apart, 
he  sews  out  some  invention  of  his  own. 

We  have  several  kinds  of  drawing  among  our 
occupations,  some  or  all  of  which  are 
used  in  the  various  kindergartens.  There 
is,  first,  the  linear  drawing,  complete  plans  for 
which  were  left  us  by  Froebel,  and  which  is  ex- 
ecuted upon  checkered  or  dotted  paper,  the  size 
of  the  squares  being  now  ordinarily  about  one 
quarter  inch.  This,  with  its  various  lengths  of 
lines,  angles,  etc.,  leads  directly  to  designing, 
and  thus  to  the  practical  application  of  the  law 
of  mediation  of  contrasts.  The  outline  drawing, 
performed  by  means  of  pasteboard  patterns,  satis- 
fies a  common  instinct  of  children,  that  of  tracing 
outlines,  and  prepares  for  later  free-hand  work. 
This  is  also  begun  in  many  kindergartens,  some 
teachers  using  it  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other 
three  varieties,  and  gaining  most  creditable  re- 
sults. We  have  also  the  circular  drawing  sug- 
gested by  Froebel  and  worked  out  very  completely 
by  Miss  Emma  Marwedel.  The  preliminary  work 
in  this  system  is  performed  by  means  of  wooden 
circles  of  three  sizes  (two  inches,  one  and  one  half 
inches,  one  inch,  in  diameter),  and  develops  into 
the  drawing  with  colored  pencils,  of  various  leaves, 
flowers,  roots,  vegetables,  and  fruits.  It  is  closely 
connected  in  its  later  stages  with  free-hand  work, 
and  is  intended  to  give  the  child  permanent  im- 
pressions of  the  universality  of  the  spherical  form. 


CONSIDERED  AS  A    WHOLE  17 

The  materials  for  the  Thread  game,  which 
must  next  be  considered,  are  a  thread  ^^^^^ 
of  colored  darning  cotton  whose  ends  ^*°'®* 
are  joined,  and  which  must  be  moistened  before 
using,  and  a  wooden  pointer  which  serves  to  push 
the  wet  thread,  as  it  lies  upon  the  squared  slate, 
into  various  forms  and  figures. 

In  Paper  twisting   we  give   the  child  a  long 
strip  of  bright-colored  paper,  from  an  p^p^^ 
inch  to  one  third  of  an  inch  in  width,   t^'^"»«- 
which  he  folds   twice  or  three  times  its  entire 
length,  and  then  bends  into  geometrical  figures, 
which  he  interlaces,  the  one  in  the  other. 

Slat  interlacing  somewhat  resembles  paper 
twisting,  though  it  is  much  less  diffi-  siatinter- 
cult,  and  its  materials  are  thin,  flexible  ^"*- 
wooden  slats  one  half  inch  wide,  which  need  no 
previous  preparation.  The  child  delights  to  play 
by  himself  with  the  slats,  and  soon  learns  to  make 
a  variety  of  figures  with  them,  which  hold  together 
when  carefully  treated. 

The  material  of  the  Weaving  is  colored  paper 
mats  cut  in  strips  of  various  widths,  a 
margin  being  left  on  the  four  sides,  and 
strips  of  another  shade,  tint,  or  harmonizing  color 
woven  in  with  a  specially  devised  needle  to  form 
the  pattern.  Color  is  introduced  effectively  here, 
and  designing  admirably  provided  for.  We  begin 
by  weaving  simple  numbers,  then  introduce  com- 
binations of  numbers,  then  numbers  woven  in  a 


18     EINDEBGARTEN  GIFTS  AND  OCCUPATIONS 

diagonal  direction,  and  by  this  means  lead  finally 
to  invention. 

The  name  Paper-cutting  sufficiently  explains 
Paper  ^^^^  occupatiou,  whosc  materials  are  scis- 

Cuttrng.  sors,  and  squares,  triangles,  and  circles 
of  white  or  colored  paper.  The  papers  are  first 
folded  and  then  cut  according  to  fancy,  or  in 
agreement  with  a  certain  geometrical  progression, 
and  the  pieces  are  subsequently  arranged  in  a 
design  by  the  child.  He  also  cuts  flowers,  fruits, 
or  any  complete  form,  from  the  paper  without 
folding,  and  mounts  the  work  upon  cardboard. 

Paper  folding  is  performed  by  means  of 
Paper  squarcs,  oblongs,  triangles,  and  circles 

Folding.  q£  white  or  colored  paper,  which  are 
made  into  a  great  variety  of  figures,  dependent 
upon  slight  changes  in  a  few  definite  funda- 
mental foldings.  This  occupation,  as  Edward 
Wiebe  says,  forms  "  a  complete  compendium  of 
elementary  mathematics,"  while  it  emphasizes 
ideas  of  sequence,  and  teaches  accuracy  and  deft- 
ness of  handling. 

In  Peas  work,  slender  sticks  or  wires  are  united 
by  points  represented  by  peas  or  tiny 
corks,  demonstrating  that  it  is  union 
which  produces  lasting  formation  of  matter. 

Modeling  in  clay  is  the  last  of  the  occupations, 
Clay  according  to  the  order  in  which  we  are 

Modeling.  ^^^  Considering  them,  and  is  a  delight- 
fully simple  and  valuable  employment,  as  charm- 


CONSIDERED  AS  A    WHOLE  19 

ing  to  children  as  veritable  mud-pie  making.  It 
is  in  nowise  intended  to  be  a  preparation  for 
sculpture,  but  is  another  of  the  varied  means 
which  Froebel  provided  for  the  development  of 
expression.  It  provides  a  universal  language 
which  all  may  understand,  while  it  teaches  the 
child  skiU  in  controlling  both  hands,  quickened 
observation,  and  a  knowledge  of  many  properties 
of  matter. 

Here,  then,  we  see  the  series  of  gifts  and  the 
series   of   occupations   plainly  laid  out 

,  ,.         .Ti  •!       Correapond- 

beiore  us,  and  as  they  lie  side  by  side  ence 

.  -^  .  "^       .  between 

we  can  readdy  observe  their  connection  Gifts  and 

•^  ^         ^  Occupations. 

with  each   other.     This,   in   so  far   as 
geometrical  progression  is  concerned,  is  as  follows : 

[^  Tenth    gift.      (Pebbles,    seeds, 
Point.  <       shells.) 

(^  Perforating. 

r  Eighth  gift.     (Sticks.) 
Ninth  gift.     (Rings.) 
Line.  \  Sewing. 

Drawing. 

^  Thread  game. 

Mediation  f-.  .... 

,    ,  T .        J  Paper  twisting, 

between  Line  <  o,  ,  .   ,    i     . 
,  p,  j  blat  interlacing. 

Kanelnl*  fSe-nthgift.     (Tablets.) 

Divided  J  Weaving. 

Plane  1  Cutting. 

^^^°^-  t  Folding. 


20     KINBERGABTEN  GIFTS  AND  OCCUPATIONS 

Skeleton  of        f  ^^^^  work.    (An  occupation,  and 
Solid.  I       ^^*  ^  union  of  two  gifts,  stick 

(^      and  seed,  or  line  and  point.) 
^  Sixth  gift.     "^ 
Fifth  gift.      I  Variously  divided 
Solid  Fourth  gift.  |       wooden  cubes, 

and  J  Third  gift.    J 

Divided  |  Second    gift.      (Sphere,    cube, 

Solid.  and  cylinder.) 

First  gift.     (Worsted  ball.) 
Modeling. 

We  find  in  both  series  the  same  logical  chain 
of  perception  and  subsequent  representation,  and 
the  experimental  knowledge  resulting  from  both ; 
and  thus  all  parts  and  sections  of  this  wonder- 
ful system  of  plays  and  occupations  are  logically 
united  with  one  another,  serving  the  child's  mind 
as  a  faithful  reflector  of  its  own  internal  develop- 
ment at  every  step. 

The  admirable  way  in  which  industrial  training 

is  begun  in  the  kindergarten,  by  means 

Training        of  the  gifts  and  occupations,  is  now  he- 

iT^the  .        .  .  TIT 

Kindergar-  ginning  to  rcccivc  much  public  attention. 
It  is,  with  us,  the  training  of  both  hands 
in  exactness,  deftness,  and  neatness,  educating 
them  to  do  the  will  of  the  brain  which  stands  be- 
hind them ;  it  is  training  the  eye  to  judge  correctly 
of  lines  and  angles,  of  proportion  and  symmetry. 
Undoubtedly,  if  industrial  education  is  to  be  car- 
ried on  successfully,  it  must  be  begun  early. 


CONSIDERED  AS  A    WHOLE  21 

As  Dr.  Seguin  says :  "  The  working  capacities 
to  be  trained  from  infancy,  and  more  technically 
at  school  are :  1,  the  senses  to  perceive ;  2,  the 
mind  to  receive,  store,  and  evoke  ideals ;  3,  the 
hand  to  execute  a  concept ;  4,  the  handling  and 
manoeuvring  of  the  instruments  which  extend 
and  enlarge  the  operations  of  the  hand  and  of 
the  senses ;  5,  the  coordination,  and  alternate 
subordination  of  the  senses  in  the  acts  of  percep- 
tion and  execution." 

All  these  capacities  we  begin  to  train  in  the 
kindergarten,  for  the  working  capacity  is  "the 
foundation  of  the  independence  of  men,  of  the 
security,  moral  education,  and  thrift  of  society." 

Our  beginning  of  industrial  training,  however, 
is  not  confined  to  training  the  hand  and  eye 
alone.  From  the  first,  we  lead  the  child  to  recon- 
struct, to  recombine,  with  the  materials  furnished 
him.  After  he  has  followed  a  dictation  from 
the  kindergartner,  in  which  blocks,  gayly  col- 
ored sticks,  or  bright  squares  of  pasteboard,  are 
arranged  in  a  symmetrical  design,  he  is  required 
either  to  add  to  the  figure  according  to  his  own 
fancy,  to  take  it  carefully  apart  and  construct  it 
again,  or  to  construct  an  entirely  new  figure  from 
the  same  materials. 

After  he  has  been  in  the  kindergarten  a 
sufficiently  long  time,  his  greatest  delight  is  to 
"  invent,"  to  make  new  combinations  and  designs. 

Practical  men,  who  have  looked  carefully  at 


22     KINDERGARTEN  GIFTS  AND  OCCUPATIONS 

these  inventions,  have  often  said  that  many  of 
them  would  serve  admirably  for  designs  in  wall- 
paper, tiled  floors,  oil-cloths,  carpets,  etc.,  —  de- 
signs —  all  these  —  coming  from  the  child's  own 
brain,  and  worked  out  by  his  own  fingers,  without 
assistance  or  suggestion  from  the  kindergartner. 
Does  not  this  promise  well  for  the  artistic  work- 
man of  the  future,  when  the  child  of  ^\e  to  six 
years  is  able  to  accomplish  such  results  through 
industrial  training  ? 

Thus  we  see  that  in  the  kindergarten  not  only 
do  hand  and  eye  begin  to  receive  their  education, 
but  new  ideas,  new  industrial  types,  begin  to  form 
in  the  mind.  From  infancy  the  hand  is  trained 
to  execute  the  ideas  of  the  mind.  Without  ideas, 
what  avails  a  skilled  hand,  save  to  give  form  to 
the  ideas  of  others  ?  Without  a  skilled  hand,  of 
how  little  use  ideas,  when  so  few  can  be  found  to 
execute  them  properly?  So  let  us  train  hand 
and  eye  and  mind  together  —  hand  and  eye,  will- 
ing and  deft  servants  to  the  mind,  which  must 
ever  be  master. 

But  valuable  as  the  training  of  eye  and  hand 
True  may  be  which  is  given  in  the  kindergar- 

SfS^and  *^^j  valuable  as  promises  for  the  future 
Occupations.  ^^^  dcsigus  and  productions  of  the  chil- 
dren, yet  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  true 
worth  of  the  gifts  and  occupations  lies  neither  in 
the  opportunities  they  offer  for  industrial  training, 
nor  for  artistic  development. 


CONSIDEBED  AS  A    WHOLE  23 

Their  prime  value  lies  in  the  fact  that  they 
afford  full  and  free  development  for  creative  self- 
activity,  for  the  expression  of  the  inner  life  of 
the  child,  and  that,  in  accomplishing  this  end, 
they  utilize  the  activities  and  interests  which  are 
natural  to  childhood. 


PERFORATING 

Materials  :  A  stout  darning'-needle  set  in  a  wooden  handle  ; 
cardboard  of  any  desired  shape  or  size,  either  checkered,  dotted, 
or  plain ;  a  cushion  of  felt,  carpet,  or  blotting-paper. 

Perforating  is  defined  by  Froebel  in  his 
"Complete  Statement  of  the  Means  of  Occupa- 
Perforating  ^^^^  ^^^^  ^^  *^®  Kindergarten,"  as  the 
defined.  combining  of  points  into  lines  and 
thence  into  figures ;  or  the  outlining  of  patterns,  by 
making  rows  of  pin-holes  on  a  penetrable  surface. 

It  corresponds  with  the  primeval  art  of  punc- 
turing (especially  tattooing)  of  the  ear- 
arfaSrr     licst   savages,^  and  has  always  been  in 

universal  .         ,  o      t^  it 

occupation     usc  lu  the  uurscry/    Ji(Very  one  who  has 

of  children.  i        c       i  -i  i  i  t 

seen  much  or  children  must  have  noted 
that  they  seem  to  feel  a  certain  fascination  in 
thrusting  pins  through  paper,  either  following  the 

1  Hermann  Poesche. 

2  "  Could  Time,  his  flight  reversed,  restore  the  hours, 

When,  playing  with  thy  vesture's  tissued  flowers, 
The  violet,  the  pink,  and  jessamine, 
I  pricked  them  into  paper  with  a  pin. 
And  thou  wast  happier  than  myself  the  while, 
Would'st  softly  speak,  and  stroke  my  head,  and  smile." 
William  Cowper, 
On  the  Receipt  of  my  Mother'' s  Picture. 


PEBFORATING  25 

outlines  of  a  picture,  or  working  out  their  own 
ideas.  This  is  caused  no  doubt  by  the  delight  of 
overcoming  the  slight  resistance  of  the  material, 
of  hearing  its  pleasant  "  crunch  "  as  the  imple- 
ment goes  through,  and  of  expressing  their  self- 
activity  in  so  simple  a  manner.  Froebel  notes 
in  some  of  his  writings  that  after  the  hole  is 
made  they  delight  to  hold  it  up  toward  the 
window  and  let  the  light  shine  through,  making 
"  little  stars,"  as  they  call  them,  and  all  kinder- 
gartners  will  corroborate  the  observation.  This 
pleasure  is  perhaps  akin  to  that  they  feel  in 
looking  at  the  light  through  the  lattice  of  their 
fingers,  and  to  that  imiversal  delight,  of  Ameri- 
can children  at  least,  in  the  "Pin -a- Penny 
Poppy-Show,"  which,  as  one  looks  back  to  early 
childhood,  was  as  alluring  and  as  well  worth  the 
price  of  admission  as  any  grand  spectacular  per- 
formance has  proved  in  later  years. 

As  Perforating  has,  more  than  any  other  occu- 
pation, been  made  the  subject  of  general  perforating 
criticism,  on  account  of  its  supposed  tax  Ih'an'^r- 
upon  the  eye,  it  has  gradually  been  with-  ™®'^^^' 
drawn  from  kindergarten  after  kindergarten,  until 
now  it  is  never  seen  among  the  babies,  and  sel- 
dom with  the  older  children  in  any  free  or  public 
institution,  and  in  many  localities  has  not  been 
used  at  all  for  years.     It  is   still  carried  on  in 
some  private  kindergartens,  however,  where  the 
smaller  number  of  children  admits  of  more  thor- 


26  PERFORATING 

ougli  supervision  ;  but  even  there  is  not  a  regu- 
lar occupation,  being  used  chiefly  for  Christmas 
work,  or  the  occasional  decoration  of  some  object 
which  is  designed  for  a  present.  As  it  is  unques- 
tionably delightful  to  children  and  has  certain 
points  of  value  which  are  shared  by  no  other 
occupation,  it  merits,  if  this  be  possible,  such 
modifications  of  its  present  form  as  seem  desir- 
able and  necessary,  and  speedy  return  to  its  place 
among  the  kindergarten  materials. 

As  it  is  the  first  in  the  series  of  occupations 
When  and  which  Froebcl  devised,  being  the  oppo- 
cuJatkTn^s''"  site  equal  of  the  concrete  point  in  the 
to  be  given.  gj£^  scrics,  it  shall  be  considered  here 
in  detail,  the  various  objections  against  its  use 
being  reserved  to  the  latter  part  of  the  chapter. 

If  given  at  all,  it  should  not  be  more  than  once 
a  week  and  to  the  older  children  only,  certainly 
not  at  any  time  to  those  under  five  years.  The 
class  should  be  seated  so  that  the  light  may  fall 
from  the  left  and  back  upon  the  paper  (though 
this  direction  of  course  refers  to  all  work  in  school 
and  kindergarten,  and  not  to  pricking  only),  and 
it  should  never  be  carried  on  for  more  than  ten 
minutes,  and  not  at  all  on  dark  days.  The  nee- 
dles should  be  strong  and  coarse,  and  the  checker- 
ing of  the  paper  or  cardboard  should  never  be 
less  than  a  quarter  inch.  We  must  remember 
that  the  occupation  is  a  constant  practice  in  tak- 
ing aim,  and  that  this  must  be  both  wearisome 


PERFORATING  27 

and  dangerous,  if  too  long  continued,  or  given 
under  any  but  the  best  conditions.  We  should 
often  discuss  the  materials  which  the  children  are 
using,  —  the  steel  and  wood  of  the  needle,  the 
fabric  of  the  cushion ;  and  in  this,  as  in  all  work 
with  paper  or  cardboard,  trace  the  various  pro- 
cesses in  its  manufacture,  and  note  the  different 
materials  of  which  it  is  composed.  This  will  best 
be  done  by  means  of  a  story,  for  the  children 
care  little  for  bits  of  encyclopaedic  lore  admin- 
istered in  the  form  of  pellets.  Hans  Christian 
Andersen's  "  Story  of  the  Flax  "  is  appropriate 
for  this  purpose,  with  a  little  adaptation,  and  it 
is  better  to  use  such  a  classic  in  child  literature 
than  to  attempt  to  frame  a  new  tale  on  the  same 
lines. 

The  card  for  perforating  is  generally  cov- 
ered with  paper  on  which  the  pattern  practical 
is  traced,  that  is,  if  a  life-form  of  any  di'^«««'^ 
kind  is  to  be  made.  Such  patterns  can  be  mani- 
folded by  means  of  the  hektograph  or  mimeo- 
graph, and  thus  much  labor  saved  to  the  kinder- 
gartner.  If  lines,  angles,  geometrical  forms,  or 
symmetrical  figures  of  any  kind  are  to  be  per- 
forated, squared  paper  is  used  to  cover  the  card, 
which  is  removed  when  the  design  is  finished. 
Checkered  cardboard  may  be  substituted  if  pre- 
ferred, and  the  paper  cover  dispensed  with,  though 
the  effect  in  this  case  is  not  as  pleasing. 

The  child  must  be  taught  to  hold  the  pricking- 


28  PERFORATING 

needle  properly,  and  to  drive  it  vertically  through 
the  card.  If  it  is  driven  obliquely,  the  edge  on 
the  under  side  of  the  cardboard  will  be  irregular, 
and  the  hole  itself  be  out  of  line  and  wrongly 
shaped  instead  of  perfectly  round. 

If  the  cushion  on  which  the  child  pricks  is  too 
thick  and  soft,  the  needle  is  driven  deep  into  the 
card  and  the  holes  made  appear  rather  large  and 
coarse.  For  this  reason,  blotting  paper  makes  a 
useful  cushion  for  the  older  children,  and  grown 
persons  who  wish  to  do  the  fine  work  which  is  so 
beautiful  may  perforate  upon  a  folded  towel,  or  a 
board  of  some  soft  wood.  If  it  is  desirable  to 
manifold  the  design  for  the  use  of  several  chil- 
dren in  sewing,  three  cards  may  be  perforated  at 
the  same  time.  It  is  not  best,  however,  to  prick 
more  than  this  number  at  once,  as  the  holes  in  the 
lower  cards  are  thus  made  too  deep  and  the  paper 
forced  out  too  far  around  them. 

It  will  be  seen  at  once,  that  the  work  will  vary 
very  much  according  as  a  coarse  or  fine  needle  is 
used,  and  when  both  are  employed  on  the  same 
pattern,  very  pretty  effects,  simulating  light  and 
shade,  may  be  produced.  Such  work,  however,  is 
emphatically  not  for  children,  and  is  only  of  value 
in  decoration,  and  as  showing  the  possibilities  of 
Froebel's  materials  when  developed  to  their  full 
extent. 

As  perforating  was  formerly  used,  the  earliest 
exercises,  for  which  full  preparation  had   been 


PERFORATING  29 

made  by  point-laying,  consisted  in  making  holes 
at  the  intersecting  point  of  all  the  vertical  subjects  for 
and  horizontal  lines  upon  the  squared  ^^'^oratmg. 
paper  or  cardboard.  This  would  appear  to  be  a 
very  simple  process  at  first  glance,  but  it  is  only 
necessary  to  try  it  once  with  a  class  of  small  chil- 
dren to  be  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  bliss  of 
ignorance  in  this  regard.  This  perforating  was 
first  done  up  and  down  the  cardboard,  following 
the  direction  of  the  vertical  line  (the  first  one 
introduced),  and  then  horizontally  across  the 
card.  Next,  points  were  combined  into  vertical 
and  horizontal  lines,  one  space  or  quarter-inch 
long,  three  holes  in  a  line  ;  and  here  entered 
apparently  insurmountable  difficulties  in  regard  to 
leaving  the  proper  interval  between  these  lines, 
—  difficulties  which  were  seldom  overcome  in 
less  than  three  or  four  exercises.  Then  angles, 
borders,  squares,  two-space  vertical  and  horizon- 
tal lines  and  their  combinations,  were  introduced, 
and  finally  the  whole  school  of  linear  drawing 
carried  out,  the  exercises  being  interspersed  with 
the  occasional  perforating  of  object-forms.  Now, 
however,  whenever  in  our  knowledge  the  occu- 
pation is  used  at  all,  life-forms  are  first  intro- 
duced, as  appealing  most  directly  to  the  child's 
interest  and  sympathies,  and  these  are  closely 
connected  with  the  gift-work,  —  during  the  study 
of  the  ball,  for  instance,  circles,  leaves,  fruits, 
and  vegetables  being  perforated.     These  are  all 


30  PEBFOBATING 

drawn  on  a  large  scale,  and  the  holes  made  some 
distance  apart,  reducing  the  possible  injury  to 
the  eye,  at  least,  almost  to  a  minimum.  Lines, 
angles,  and  geometrical  forms,  which  must  de- 
pend for  their  proper  execution  upon  the  check- 
ered paper,  are  almost  entirely  done  away  with; 
as  such  work  is  much  finer,  requires  greater  ac- 
curacy of  aim,  and  proves  a  greater  strain  on  the 
eye  and  on  the  finer  muscles  of  the  hand  and 
fingers.  Children  are  now  seldom  allowed  to 
perforate  their  own  sewing  cards,  unless  the  old- 
est class,  for  instance,  volunteer  to  prick  circular 
sewing  for  the  smaller  children,  or  some  sym- 
metrical design  of  their  own  invention  which  they 
propose  to  use  as  a  present. 

The  various  forms  produced  by  pricking,  if  the 
work  is  well  done,  are  really  exquisitely  delicate 
and  pretty ;  the  reverse  side,  on  which  the  broken 
cardboard  is  lifted  above  the  perforation,  being 
considered  the  right  side,  and  so  mounted  when 
finished.  All  sorts  of  life -forms  can  be  made 
with  this  occupation,  ranging  from  fruits,  leaves, 
flowers,  and  vegetables,  to  coral,  sea-weed,  and 
snow-crystals ;  to  birds,  chickens,  lambs,  or  any 
other  animal ;  to  houses  and  household  furniture, 
faces  and  figures,  and  even  to  complete  pictures, 
whose  outlines  are  clear  and  simple,  and  without 
too  much  detail.  The  wide  range  thus  given 
allows  us  to  connect  the  perforating  with  any 
subject  which  may  be  engaging   the   children's 


PERFORATING  31 

attention,  and  thus  to  follow  the  invariable  rule 
which  applies  to  all  kindergarten  occupations, 
namely,  that  the  objects  which  the  child  pricks, 
or  sews,  or  moulds,  or  cuts,  should  be  in  line 
with  his  dominant  interests,  and  never  arbitrarily 
selected  and  presented  by  the  hinder gartner. 

There  is  a  certain  variety  of  this  occupation 
known  as  raised,  or  embossed  pricking:,   Raised  or 

.  .  .  .         Embossed 

or  pricking  in  relief,  which  is  partic-  Pricking. 
ularly  exquisite.  Suppose,  for  instance,  that  a 
swan  is  to  be  made  in  relief.  The  paper  is  folded 
over  the  card  and  a  clear  outline  of  the  bird 
drawn  upon  it,  his  wing  and  tail-feathers,  his 
proudly  arched  neck,  his  eye  and  beak  and  swell- 
ing breast  all  simply  represented,  and  all  con- 
fusion of  details  omitted.  This  outline  is  then 
perforated  with  a  fine  needle,  the  holes  being 
made  quite  close  together,  the  paper  is  taken 
off,  and  the  swan  appears  upon  the  card.  This  is 
now  reversed,  and  with  a  very  fine  needle  (No.  10 
or  12)  we  perforate,  with  holes  set  close  together, 
the  entire  form.  This  of  course  depresses,  or 
makes  hollow,  the  one  surface  and  elevates  the 
other,  so  far  as  to  make  the  figure  stand  out  in 
relief  above  the  plain  cardboard.  Instead  of  one 
needle  set  in  a  wooden  or  bamboo  handle,  we  may 
use  a  large  cork  and  set  a  number  of  needles  in 
one  end  of  it,  which  enables  us  to  "  raise "  the 
pattern  very  quickly,  if  it  is  a  large  and  simple 
one.     The  work  produced  by  this  embossing  is 


32  PERFORATING 

decidedly  more  beautiful  than  that  of  any  other 
occupation,  but  it  is  just  as  decidedly  only  safely 
to  be  done  by  grown  persons.  If  a  fruit,  or 
flower,  or  autumn  leaf  is  to  be  embossed,  it  may 
be  colored  with  crayons,  or  painted  in  water- 
colors  before  raising,  and  this  effect  is  really  so 
exquisite  that  it  should  be  seen  to  be  appreciated. 
The  slight  breaking  of  the  painted  surface  seems 
to  soften  the  color,  and  almost  to  add  the  bloom 
of  nature  to  the  soft  cheek  of  the  peach.  If  a 
picture  of  a  farm  and  out-buildings,  with  snow- 
covered  roofs,  fences,  and  surrounding  trees,  be 
painted,  the  portions  on  which  the  snow  lies  may 
all  be  raised,  the  remaining  parts  of  the  picture 
being  outlined  only,  and  thus  a  charmingly  real- 
istic effect  be  produced. 

A  large  head  of  the  hero  of  the  "Story  of 
Patsy,"  was  once  beautifully  painted  in  water- 
colors  by  one  of  the  students  in  our  Training 
School,  was  surrounded  by  a  circular  band  painted 
in  dead-gold,  and  then  the  whole  picture  raised, 
the  effect  when  completed  being  most  unusual 
and  beautiful.  Calendar  and  picture  frames  may 
be  charmingly  ornamented  with  pricking  in  relief, 
as  well  as  other  articles,  such  as  lamp  shades  and 
glove-boxes.  If  letters  or  figures  are  placed  upon 
these  decorations,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
they,  as  well  as  their  positions,  must  be  reversed 
before  perforating,  as,  when  completed,  the  lower 
side  is  the  right  side. 


PERFORATING       v.^  33 

Perforating  has  certain  values,  which  it  shares 
with  all  the  other  occupations,  and  vaiueof 
which  are,  in  brief,  that  it  satisfies  the  ^^^'^^^e- 
creative  and  expressive  needs  of  little  children, 
which,  Froebel  says,  are  their  most  essential 
needs,  that  it  gives  manual  dexterity,  deepens 
mathematical  perceptions,  and  cultivates  a  love 
for  the  beautiful.  Its  especial  and  peculiar  values 
are,  that  it  leads  the  child  to  see  with  exactness, 
trains  him  in  eye-measure,  thus  enabling  him  to 
judge  correctly  of  distances  and  directions,  and 
thoroughly  impresses  forms  upon  his  mind.  Be- 
fore the  child  can  draw  a  leaf,  he  can  prick  the 
holes  at  proper  distances  in  the  pattern  prepared 
for  him,  and  in  seeing  the  outline  grow  under  his 
fingers,  he  gains  a  distinct  idea  of  it,  and  one 
which  will  be  indelibly  impressed  on  his  memory. 
The  process  is  slower  and  more  laborious  than 
drawing,  and  therefore,  perhaps,  better  remem- 
bered. The  occupation  points,  too,  with  relent- 
less finger,  to  the  absolute  relation  of  cause  and 
effect.  A  wrong  line  in  drawing  may  be  erased, 
a  wrong  stitch  in  sewing  cut  out,  a  wrong  strip  in 
weaving  removed,  a  wrong  touch  in  modeling 
smoothed  over,  but  there  is  no  erasure,  cutting, 
removing,  or  smoothing  with  incorrect  pricking. 
The  hole  may  be  partially  covered  by  scratching 
the  cardboard  over  it,  but  the  mark  may  not  be 
removed  entirely,  and  is  thus  an  invaluable  object- 
lesson  to  a  careless  child. 


34  PERFOBATING 

The  objections  to  perforating  we  shall  give  in 
Objections  full  detail,  since,  though  they  apply  espe- 
Occupation.  cially  here,  they  are  of  certain  weight 
as  regards  various  others  of  the  Froebel  occupa- 
tions. The  whole  question  hinges  upon  the  funda- 
mental versus  the  accessory  muscles,  —  how  far 
the  latter  are  used  in  the  kindergarten,  and 
whether  their  too  precocious  use  will  not  result 
in  deterioration  and  disease.  The  first  devel- 
oped organs  of  the  child  are  called  fundamental ; 
those  developed  later  are  called  accessory.  The 
shoulder  muscles  are  called  fundamental;  the 
finger  muscles  accessory.  At  birth  nerve-centres 
are  already  developed  that  cause  the  shoulder 
muscles  to  move.  The  finger  muscles  do  not  act 
till  later,  which  seems  to  indicate  that  the  latter 
should  not  be  exercised  until  there  is  a  suitable 
basis  in  the  former.  Viewed  in  this  light,  it  is 
evident  that  much  work,  both  in  school  and  kin- 
dergarten, is  unsuited  to  the  early  motor  ability 
of  children. 

Dr.  C.  C.  Van  Liew  says,  in  an  article  on  the 
"  Relation  of  the  Kindergarten  to  the  Primary 
School :  "  ^  "I  wish  to  call  attention  to  one  line 
of  work,  which  kindergarten  and  primary  school 
in  recent  years  have  pursued  in  common.  I  refer 
to  those  exercises  requiring  minute  motor  activ- 
ity, such  as  plaiting,  sewing,  drawing  to  patterns, 
etc.,  which  have  constituted  prominent  occupations 
1  Educational  Beview,  February,  1895. 


PEBFOBATING  35 

for  the  child.  In  the  light  of  certain  data  which 
child-study  has  revealed,  concerning  the  physical 
growth  and  motor  powers  of  the  child  between 
the  ages  of  three  and  eight,  these  occupations 
are  undoubtedly  unsafe.  During  these  years  the 
child's  physical  activity,  and  his  power  of  motor 
control,  involve  chiefly  the  body  as  a  whole  and 
the  movements  of  the  larger  members.  The  whole 
arm  is  controlled  more  accurately  and  easily,  and 
hence  with  much  less  expenditure  of  nervous  force 
in  proportion,  for  instance,  than  merely  the  fore- 
arm, hand,  or  fingers.  The  fingers,  especially, 
require  a  delicacy  of  control,  and  a  minuteness  of 
movement,  either  in  writing  or  in  the  occupations 
just  mentioned,  that  are  far  beyond  the  natural 
power  of  the  child  at  this  age;  hence  the  attempt 
to  perform  these  activities  is  apt  to  result  in  an 
exhausting  and  injurious  expenditure  of  nervous 
force.  The  slow  diffusion  of  nerve  energy  and  con- 
trol, during  the  kindergarten  and  primary  grade 
ages,  also  demands  that  there  be  a  gradual,  rather 
than  an  abrupt,  approach  to  the  exercise  of  such 
occupations." 

To  this  we  may  add  Preyer's  remark,  in  the 
"  Mind  of  the  Child."  "  One  thing  only,"  he  says, 
"  I  would  lay  down  as  settled,  viz.,  that  the  pro- 
tracted occupation  of  little  children  with  fine 
work,  such  as  the  pricking  of  paper,  the  placing 
and  drawing  through  of  threads,  etc.,  must  be 
injurious   to  the  eye.     The  prolonged  strain  of 


36  PEBFORATING 

looking  at  near  objects  is  for  children  from  three 
to  six  years  old,  even  in  the  best  light,  unquali- 
fiedly harmful.  All  strain  of  attention  to  near 
objects  in  the  evening,  when  lamplight  must  be 
used,  should  especially  be  forbidden,  otherwise 
the  apparatus  of  accommodation  will  get  a  one- 
sided use  too  early,  and  near-sightedness  will  be 
invited."  ^ 

The  motor  ability  of  children  at  different  ages 
has  only  lately  become  the  subject  of  serious 
study,  and  it  must  be  continued  much  more  fully 
before  we  can  judge  absolutely  what  occupations 
are  best  suited  to  the  kindergarten  and  school 
years.  Mr.  J.  A.  Hancock,  late  of  Clark  Univer- 
sity (Worcester,  Mass.),  has  conducted  various 
investigations  as  to  the  motor  ability  of  children 
on  entering  school,  and  from  his  data  we  may 
make  some  inferences  as  to  our  work  in  the  kin- 
dergarten. A  number  of  tests  were  made,  among 
which  were  certain  which  attempted  to  determine 
the  ability  of  the  child  to  control  the  muscles  of 
the  arm  and  forefinger.  "  The  ratio  of  control 
of  man  and  child  was  1  to  4.5  for  the  shoulder 
and  1  to  5.8  for  the  finger.  While  these  results 
may  not  stand  with  further  research,  it  is  safe  to 
infer  that  motor  control  in  the  adult,  so  far  as  the 
muscles  are  concerned,  is  from  three  to  six  times 
greater  than  that  of  the  child  in  the  first  year  of 

1  W.  Preyer,  The  Mind  of  the  Child,  Part  L,  "  The  Senses  and 
the  Wm,"  page  60. 


PERFORATING  37 

school  life.  Data  obtained  from  the  general  tests 
mentioned  seem  to  justify  the  inferences  that 
children  have  far  less  control  of  their  muscles 
than  adults ;  that  generally  the  girl  at  the  same 
age  is  steadier  than  the  boy ;  that  children  early 
learn  to  make  movements  involving  large  muscles ; 
that  they  succeed  easily  in  large  movements  of 
some  degree  of  complexity ;  and  that  the  order  of 
development  of  control  is  from  the  centre  toward 
the  periphery, —  body,  shoulder,  arm,  forearm,  and 
hand.  In  the  hand  control,  the  index  finger  takes 
precedence  of  the  others,  while  fine  and  compli- 
cated movements  are  made  with  difficulty."  ^ 

Professor  H.  H.  Donaldson  of  the  University 
of  Chicago,  in  a  recent  article  on  "  The  Growth 
of  the  Brain  in  Eolation  to  Training,"  ^  makes 
the  following  remarks,  which  serve  to  add  weight 
to  the  previous  arguments :  "  The  direct  bearing 
of  these  relations  on  training  may  be  briefly  in- 
dicated by  reviewing  the  control  which  we  pos- 
sess over  the  movements  of  the  arm.  In  infancy 
the  control  of  the  arm  is  very  imperfect,  and  it  is 
moved  as  a  whole,  the  principal  motions  taking 
place  at  the  shoulder  joint. 

"  We  should  infer  from  this  that  the  cells  which 
control  these  muscles  are  earliest  developed,  and 
such  is  apparently  the  case.     Now  in  a  very  gen- 

^  Dr.  Win.  H.  Bumham,  of  Clark  University. 
2  Transactions  of  the  Illinois  Society  for  Child-Study,  Vol.  I., 
No.  1. 


38  PEBFOEATING 

eral  way,  the  processes  of  development  and  organ- 
ization in  the  cells  which  control  the  movements 
of  the  other  joints  of  the  arm  even  to  the  joints  of 
the  fingers,  follow  in  regular  order  down  the  limb, 
and  the  cell-groups  in  the  brain  stand  at  regularly 
increasing  distances.  We  should  expect  therefore 
what  we  find,  that  the  power  of  control  gradually 
passes  down  the  limb,  so  that  complete  control  of 
the  fingers  is  the  last  to  be  naturally  attained." 

Now,  if  all  these  observations  upon  the  develop- 
ment of  motor  ability  are  correct,  or  if  they  are 
correct  in  the  main,  then  it  is  clearly  wrong  to 
give  either  in  kindergarten  or  primary  school  any 
work  which  involves  a  complex  coordination  of 
the  finer  and  more  delicate  muscles,  for  "any 
form  of  early  specialization  which  leaves  unex- 
ercised and  untested  considerable  portions  of  the 
central  system  accomplishes  the  end  it  gains  at 
the  risk  of  overlooking  the  best  capacities  of  the 
individual  and  of  disturbing  the  nutrition  of  the 
nervous  system  as  a  whole,  by  an  immoderate 
exercise  of  limited  portions." 

It  befits  us  to  consider,  when  we  study  the  pos- 
sible disastrous  effects  of  a  too  precocious  use  of 
the  finer  muscles,  not  only  the  healthy,  normal 
child,  but  the  one  who  is  abnormal,  or  nervous, 
or  just  recovering  from  illness.  Overstrain  of 
any  kind  here  is  doubly  dangerous,  as  it  may  so 
easily  lead  to  chronic  disease  and  loss  of  power. 

In  Edmund  Lear's  famous  "  Nonsense  Book  " 


PERFOBATING  39 

there  is  a  certain  recipe  for  making  an  "Am- 
blongus  Pie,"  in  which,  after  long  and  careful 
preparation  of  the  ingredients,  elaborate 
compounding  and  scientific  baking,  the  changes 

11  •  1  •!  Ill*'"®  desira- 

whole  mixture,  when  it  has  reached  the  we  in  the 

,    ,  .  .  ,         Occupation. 

point  of  exquisite  completion,  is  to  be 
"  thrown  out  of  window  as  fast  as  possible." 
One  is  forcibly  reminded  of  the  recipe  in  reading 
this  chapter  on  Perforating,  for  after  dwelling  at 
some  length  upon  its  beauty  and  value,  argument 
after  argument,  piled  one  upon  the  other,  has  been 
brought  forward  against  its  use.  We  do  not  in 
reality  feel,  however,  that  the  occupation  need  be 
altogether  abolished,  for  it  seems  to  us  that  cer- 
tain modifications  might  be  made  in  regard  to  the 
size  of  the  needles  used,  the  squaring  of  the  card- 
board, etc.,  which  might  render  it  perfectly  harm- 
less while  retaining  all  its  valuable  and  pleasing 
features.  To  do  all  the  work  on  a  larger  scale,  so 
that  the  fundamental  muscles  and  centres  may  be 
called  into  play,  instead  of  the  accessory,  would 
violate  no  principle  of  the  kindergarten,  but  would 
only  be  such  a  modification  of  the  occupation  as 
seems  required  by  our  growing  knowledge  of  the 
psycho-physical  nature  of  the  child. 


SEWING 

Materials:  A  large  worsted-needle  with  blunt  point;  split, 
single,  and  double  zephyr  of  the  six  colors,  their  tints  and 
shades ;  card,  Bristol,  or  pasteboard  of  any  size  and  color,  with 
the  desired  pattern  perforated  upon  it. 

The  employment  of  some  sharp-pointed  instru- 
„    .  ment  attached  to  a  thread  of  various 

Sewing 

one  of  the      substances,   for   useful   and    decorative 

earliest  of  ' 

tavoi^t^  *  sewing,  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  and 
Em^Jy-  universal  employments.  The  tool  may 
ment.  ^^  ^  thom,  or  a  needle  fashioned  from 

wood,  bone,  or  steel ;  the  thread,  a  tough  grass, 
the  fibre  of  a  leaf  or  tree,  the  sinews  of  an  animal 
or  strips  of  its  hide ;  or  it  may  be  the  product 
of  the  silkworm,  the  flax,  or  the  sheep,  —  yet  all 
have  been  used  in  much  the  same  way  and  for 
the  same  purposes  since  our  primeval  ancestors 
first  made  holes  in  the  skins  they  wore  and  drew 
them  together  for  a  more  complete  covering. 

And  as  it  is  now,  so  has  it  ever  been  in  regard 
to  the  two  varieties  of  sewing,  —  for  use  and  for 
ornament.  Even  among  uncivilized  tribes  and 
semi-barbarians,  we  find  their  scanty  clothing  em- 
broidered with  bright  colors,  and  we  know  the  art 
to  have  been  one  of  the  earliest  employed  by  the 
Eastern  nations. 


SEWING  41 

Children,  too,  readily  take  it  up  in  the  nursery, 
partly  by  inherited  instinct,  perhaps,  and  partly 
by  imitation  ;  and  a  needle,  a  stout  thread,  and  a 
piece  of  cloth,  which  is  straightway  drawn  up  into 
surprising  shapes  and  strange  bunches,  will  often 
keep  a  little  child  amused  and  happy  for  many 
minutes  together. 

The  fact  that  Froebel's  occupation-materials 
contain  nothing  new,  but  are  based,  on  the  con- 
trary, upon  the  traditional  employments  of  child- 
hood, is  one  of  the  strongest  arguments  in  their 
favor,  for  they  must  have  been  wholly  wrong 
from  a  psychological  point  of  view,  had  they  been 
evolved  from  his  own  mind  instead  of  devised 
from  a  careful  study  of  the  playing  child. 

When  we  consider  the  attractiveness  of  sewing, 
in   itself,  and  the  joy  with  which  all  Attractive- 

,  .        ness  of  the 

little  children  greet  its  appearance  in  occupation. 
the  kindergarten,  we  may  be  well  assured  that  it 
contains  a  vast  field  for  the  gaining  of  elemen- 
tary knowledge,  if  rightly  used  and  systematized. 
The  mere  placing  and  drawing  in  and  out  of  the 
needle,  would,  of  course,  have  no  educational 
value  in  itself,  though  it  would  give  to  both  girls 
and  boys  a  valuable  dexterity  of  hand,  not  only 
for  future  needlework,  but  for  any  sort  of  man- 
ual labor  requiring  delicacy  and  skill.  If,  how- 
ever, we  look  upon  the  occupation  and  apply  it, 
as  another  attractive  means  of  deepening  the  im- 
pressions of  form,  or  outline,  and  color,  upon  the 


42  SEWING 

child's  mind,  and  of  familiarizing  Mm  with  the 
special  characteristics  of  the  objects  he  sees  about 
him,  it  assumes  at  once  a  more  important  po- 
sition. 

One  valuable  feature  of  kindergarten  sewing 
is  the  comparative  simplicity  with  which  its  begin- 
nings may  be  made.  If  weaving  or  paper-cutting, 
for  instance,  were  given  on  the  first  day  the  child 
entered  the  kindergarten,  he  would  fail  a  dozen 
times  before  accomplishing  the  results  for  which 
he  aimed,  and  repeated  failure  is  not  easily  borne 
nor  understood  by  a  little  child,  neither  is  it  favor- 
able to  development  at  this  time  of  life.  We  all 
feel  it  necessary  to  grasp  perfection  occasionally, 
in  order  to  gain  courage  to  keep  on,  and  if  this 
be  true  of  maturity  and  experience,  how  much 
more  true  must  it  be  of  the  undeveloped  human 
being,  of  the  "  soul  in  the  bud." 

Shy,  fretful,  unhappy,  nervous  little  pupils  in 
the  kindergarten  are  enticed  to  industry  more 
frequently  with  this  occupation  than  with  any 
other.  The  paper  and  pencil  are  too  familiar, 
and  associated  too  intimately  with  the  arduous 
labors  of  older  brothers  and  sisters  at  their 
writing  and  ciphering ;  the  square  piece  of  col- 
ored paper  always  seems  to  appall  them  when  it 
is  first  given  for  cutting  or  folding,  but  no  child 
ever  draws  back  or  refuses  the  cardboard,  with  its 
pretty  drawn  pattern  and  needle  already  threaded 
with  scarlet  worsted. 


SEWING  43 

Perforating  and  sewing  are  closely  connected 
employments,  as  has  been  shown  in  the  previ- 
ous chapter,  the  points  of  the  one  occupation  be- 
ing joined  by  the  threads  of  the  other,  and  thus 
lines  of   every  variety  produced.     The  Relation  of 

.  1  r  T       Sewing  to 

practical  working  of  the  law  of  medi-  Perforating. 
ation  of  opposites  is  here  shown,  and  runs  as 
clearly  through  all  the  occupations  as  it  did  in  the 
gifts,  showing  itself  in  contrasts  and  connections 
of  color,  form,  position,  direction,  and  dimen- 
sion, and  in  all  the  designs  and  figures  which  the 
child  produces  in  his  free  play  with  the  various 
materials. 

The  pattern  for  sewing,  if  it  be  a  life-form 
(that  is,  any  obiect,  either  animate  or  Practical 

..  1  •11  1MH       Directions 

inanimate,  connected  with  the  child  s  for  Sewing. 
experience),  is  first  drawn  upon  a  paper  which 
is  folded  over  the  card  and  then  perforated. 
If  the  sewing  be  intended  for  young  children, 
the  perforations  are  made  as  far  apart  as  is  con- 
sistent with  preserving  the  outline  of  the  object. 
If  lines,  geometrical  figures,  or  symmetrical  de- 
signs are  to  be  perforated,  squared  paper  is  used 
to  cover  the  card;  or  if  checkered  cardboard 
is  employed,  no  paper  cover  is  needed.  If  the 
patterns  of  either  forms  of  knowledge,  life,  or 
beauty  are  at  all  elaborate,  it  is  best  to  draw 
them  lightly  with  a  pencil  after  pricking,  or  at 
least  to  outline  any  portion  where  the  design  is 
not  clearly  shown. 


44 


SEWING 


A  sewing  card  perforator  ^  has  lately  been  in- 
vented, which  bids  fair  to  be  of  the  greatest 
assistance  to  kindergartners  in  preparing  for  sew- 
ing. The  machine  is  strong  and  simple,  and 
allows  the  perfect  perforation  of  half  a  dozen 
cards  at  the  same  time.  The  holes  made  are 
large,  round,  and  exact,  and  as  the  board  is  cut 
completely  through  in  perforating,  there  are  no 
rough  and  broken  edges  on  the  wrong  side.  Not 
only  will  it  be  the  greatest  saving  of  time  and 
eyesight  to  the  kindergartner,  and  will  produce 
more  perfect  work,  but  the  size  of  the  perfora- 
tions admits  of  the  easy  use  of  single  zephyr  and 
very  large  needles,  thus  removing  the  only  reason- 
able objection  to  kindergarten  sewing,  so  far  as 
the  older  children  are  concerned,  at  least. 

The  child  must  learn  to  work  upon  his  sewing 
without  turning  the  card  over  each  time,  although 
of  course  he  must  turn  it  somewhat  in  order  to 
see  where  to  place  his  needle.  In  making  the 
circle,  he  should  sew  in  and  out  all  around,  the 
first  time,  "  leaving  the  gates  open,"  as  we  say 
familiarly,  and  then  sew  back  again  and  close 
them.  This  seems  an  easier  method  for  the 
child,  and  is  an  economy  in  worsted.  The  younger 
children  commonly  have  their  needles  threaded 
and  knotted  and  the  thread  tied  in,  but,  as  soon  as 
practicable,  they  should  be  taught  to  do  this  work 

^  The  Louise  H.  Orwig  Sewing  Card  Perforator.     (J.  Ralpb 
Orwig,  Des  Moines,  Iowa.) 


SEWING  45 

themselves,  as  it  is  not  at  all  difficult  when  we 
consider  the  large  eyes  of  the  needles  now  in 
use. 

It  is  always  wise  to  converse  with  the  children 
about  the  materials  they  are  using,  for  thus  they 
learn  to  treat  them  with  greater  care  Discussion 
and  —  stiU  more  valuable  lesson  —  be-  oftheoicu- 
gin  to  trace  the  relation  of  their  own  p*^^*'"* 
employments  to  the  great  industries  of  the  world. 
In  connection  with  their  steel  needles  comes  a 
description  of  iron-mining;  with  the  cardboard 
comes  the  story  of  the  making  of  paper;  and 
with  the  worsted  all  sorts  of  fascinating  tales  and 
pictures  and  songs,  of  sheep-washing  and  shear- 
ing, of  faithful  shepherds  and  sweet  white  lamb- 
kins, and  wise,  bright-eyed  shepherd  dogs.  If  the 
children  of  our  city  kindergartens  could  once  see 
a  sheep,  and  note  his  size  and  feel  his  thick  wool, 
then  all  this  conversation  woidd  have  a  solid  basis 
on  which  to  rest.  Failing  the  sheep,  however,  we 
may  bring  his  wool  to  show  and  to  handle,  as  well 
as  some  "  rolls  "  of  the  wool  as  it  is  prepared  in 
the  mill  for  spinning.  Could  we  introduce  a 
spinning-wheel  to  the  kindergarten,  —  and  this 
is  quite  possible,  in  New  England  at  least,  —  we 
might  show  the  children  the  charming  process  of 
converting  the  "  rolls  "  into  yarn,  and  such  an  ex- 
perience could  never  be  forgotten  or  erased  from 
the  mind. 

The   first  worsteds   in   sewing   are   commonly 


46  SEWING 

selected  by  the  kindergartner  in  accordance  with 
what  experience  has  taught  her  to  be  the  favor- 
choiceof       itc  colors  of  children.     Later  on,  when 

Colors  in  -i      •         i  i  •  •  i      i        « 

Sewing.  their  plays  and  experiences  with  the  first 
gift  balls  and  supplementary  materials  have  been 
more  extended,  and  when  they  have  some  practi- 
cal knowledge  of  colors,  we  should  provide  them 
with  worsteds  of  every  shade  and  tint,  and  give 
them  the  fullest  power  of  choice,  guiding  them  to 
make  harmonious  arrangements.  Here  they  will 
show  great  individuality,  selecting  their  favorite 
colors  and  combinations,  and  often  clinging  to 
them  through  a  whole  series  of  symmetrical  de- 
signs. 

In  sewing  forms  illustrative  of  animal  and 
vegetable  life  we  should  be  careful  that  the 
children  associate  the  right  color  with  each 
object.  To  be  sure,  the  four  or  five  year  old 
child  cannot  make  his  work  high  art,  but  we 
can  at  least  suggest  that  pink  horses,  blue  leaves, 
and  green  pussy  cats  are  not  true  to  nature ;  and 
lead  him  to  make  his  pictures  as  real  as  possible. 
Often  he  selects  the  woi-sted  because  it  is  pleasing 
to  his  eye  and  gives  no  consideration  to  the  color 
of  the  object  he  is  to  sew.  A  question  from  the 
kindergartner  or  a  suggestion  of  disapproval  from 
the  other  children  will  frequently  set  his  mind 
to  working  in  the  right  direction,  but  if  he  still 
insists,  for  instance,  upon  sewing  in  bright  yellow 
the  turkey  on  his  card,  it  may  well  be  doubted  if 


SEWING  47 

he  has  ever  seen  that  famous  bird,  and  one  should 
straightway  be  presented  to  his  observation,  if 
possible.  Failing  that,  a  colored  picture  may  be 
shown,  and  thus  the  mistake  rectified. 

There  is  some  discussion  among  kindergartners 
as  to  the  advisability  of  coloring  the  coloring  the 
life-forms  in  this  occupation,  the  point  ^^'''^^ 
at  issue  being  that  as  sewing  only  represents 
outlines  of  objects,  it  causes  confusion  in  the 
child's  mind  if  they  are  so  painted  as  to  repre- 
sent surfaces  or  solids.  This  point  we  shall  not 
attempt  to  settle  here,  but  whether  or  not  coloring 
be  a  vicious  practice  it  is  certainly  very  much  en- 
joyed by  the  child  ;  and  if  he  is  allowed  to  paint 
the  form  himself  with  water-color  or  crayon  it 
would  seem  as  if  he  might  thereby  gain  a  clearer 
idea  of  the  real  appearance  of  the  object. 

In  this,  as  in  all  other  occupations,  the  chUd 
should  himseK  remedy  any  mistakes  TheChndto 
he  makes  through  haste,  or  impatience,  oX^ma^ 
or  carelessness.  Of  course  it  is  the  **^®°' 
kindergartner's  duty  to  see  that  his  hands  are 
clean  and  his  table  free  from  dust  before  he 
begins  work,  but  if  he  drops  his  sewing  on  the 
floor  and  soils  it,  he  must  be  given  bread-crumbs 
or  india-rubber  and  taught  to  make  it  clean  ;  if 
he  jerks  the  worsted  through  the  cardboard  so  as 
to  tear  it,  it  must  be  mended  with  mucilage  and 
paper;  if  he  loses  his  needle,  he  must  try  to 
find  it   again;  if   after  he   has   learned  to   sew 


48  SEWING 

tolerably  well  he  pulls  his  worsted  in  and  out 
of  any  holes  in  the  card  without  regard  to  the 
pattern,  he  must  patiently  take  it  out  again  and 
be  ready  to  begin  work  properly  next  time.  The 
teacher  who  corrects  all  his  mistakes  for  the  child 
is  kind  in  the  present  only  to  be  cruel  in  the 
future,  —  she  ill  prepares  him  for  later  school 
work  and  still  less  for  complete  living.  The 
lesson  of  cause  and  effect  is  better  learned  early 
than  late,  and  a  few  tears,  a  moment's  irritation, 
a  fit  of  contumacy,  are  not  so  hard  to  suffer  now 
as  remorse  and  repentance  would  be  by  and  by. 
We  must  inevitably  bear  the  consequences  of  our 
own  errors  in  maturity,  and  if  we  may  learn  to 
avert  them  by  a  little  experience  in  youth  with 
concrete  things,  then  blessed  the  teacher  and  the 
teaching.  If,  as  Aristotle  said,  we  learn  to  play 
upon  the  harp  by  playing  the  harp  and  become 
proficient  in  the  virtues  by  practicing  them,  so 
the  only  way  of  becoming  careful  is  by  practicing 
carefulness.^ 

We  believe  in  this  occupation,  as  it  is  used  in 
Value  of  *^®  kindergarten,  not  only  in  that  it 
Sewing.  leads  the  child  to  manual  dexterity, 
cleanliness,  careful  artistic  labor,  sense  of  color, 
harmonious  arrangement,  and  symmetry  of  design, 

^  "Whoever  spoiled  anything  at  Keilhau  had  to  see  that  it 
was  repaired.  A  boy  having  broken  a  window  in  carelessness  or 
mischief  had  to  take  the  frame  on  his  back  and  carry  it,  in 
whatever  weather  might  be,  to  Blankenburg,  a  distance  of  four 
miles,  and  bring  it  back  repaired."     (Hermann  von  Arnswald.) 


SEWING  49 

though  these  would,  in  themselves,  constitute  a 
sufficient  reason  for  its  introduction,  but  as  a 
pleasant  and  simple  means  of  storing  his  mind 
with  ideas  of  things  in  general,  which  we  deem  to 
be  of  use  in  his  development. 

Modeling  is  of  course  the  best  means  of  help- 
ing the  child  to  produce  a  real  substantial  image 
of  things  in  the  outer  world  and  to  admonish  him 
CO  look  more  closely  to  distinguish  the  differences 
l^etween  them,  and  bring  them  out  in  the  plastic 
clay  which  shapes  itself  under  his  hand;  but 
next  to  modeling,  sewing  is  perhaps  the  most 
valuable  aid  in  producing  the  same  effect. 

Visitors  very  often  smile  with  surprise  at  seeing 
boys  as  well  as  girls  sewing  in  the  kindergarten ; 
but  as  the  idea  is  obviously  not  perfection  in 
needlework,  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not 
be  practiced  by  all.  Boys  certainly  require  skill- 
fulness  of  hand  in  their  future  labors,  and  they 
enjoy  this  method  of  gaining  it  as  well  as  girls. 

Sewing  is  constantly  used  as  a  sort  of  inter- 
preter of  the  occupations  of  stick-laying  and  draw- 
ing, working  in  the  same  field,  and  by  its  remark- 
able adaptation  to  childish  desires,  making  a  most 
forcible  and  definite  impression  of  the  instruction 
we  wish  to  convey.  The  three  occupations  should 
be  so  thoroughly  connected  that  all  sewing  of  lines, 
angles,  and  geometrical  figures  should  be  an  out- 
growth of  previous  experiences  with  sticks,  rings, 
pencil,  and  paper. 


60  SEWING 

We  can  see  that  in  sewing,  as  in  all  other  oc- 
cupations of  the  kindergarten,  we  should  follow 
Course  to  be  the  plan  laid  down  by  Froebel  in  his 

followed  in  -^  ^  '' 

Sewing.  system  of  gifts,  that  is,  the  uniting  of 
forms  or  outlines  of  knowledge  with  forms  or 
outlines  of  symmetry  in  order  that  no  inborn  fac- 
ulty of  the  child  may  lack  its  proper  develop- 
ment. Therefore,  we  use  a  so-called  "  school "  or 
course  of  lines,  in  which,  as  in  linear  drawing,  a 
certain  logical  plan  is  followed,  and  also  a  system 
of  outlines,  which,  carefully  arranged  and  graded, 
appeals  to  the  child's  fancy  and  imagination  and 
leads  him  to  inspect  like  objects  in  nature. 

In  the  school  of  lines,  angles,  and  geometrical 
figures  we  cannot  be  too  careful  about  the  order 
of  procedure,  nor  too  judicious  in  forcing  new 
ideas  upon  the  child's  mind  before  he  can  prop- 
erly comprehend  them.  Let  him  begin  his  work 
in  this  occupation  by  sewing  a  succession  of  pic- 
tures of  the  first  gift  balls  in  the  appropriate 
colors.  Afterwards  he  may  sew  outlines  of  round- 
ing and  round  objects,  such  as  peaches,  cherries, 
apples,  which  will  supplement  appropriately  his 
ball  lessons  and  plays.  A  complete  series  of  forms 
for  circular  sewing,  called  the  "  Botanical  Sewing 
Cards,  or  Childhood's  Fairy  Land  of  Leaves  and 
Flowers,"  was  worked  out  by  Miss  Emma  Mar- 
wedel.  This  begins  with  various  circles  in  which 
form,  color,  place,  and  direction  are  illustrated,  and 
progresses  first  to  circles  in  comparative  relation 


SEWING  51 

to  natural  forms,  as  fruit,  vegetables,  and  leaves, 
and  then  to  the  experience  and  making  of  the 
divided  circle,  which  leads  to  the  similar  division 
of  flowers  into  petals.^ 

Of  course  the  number  of  cards  sewed  in  each 
design  must  be  decided  by  the  kindergartner 
herself,  who  sees  and  understands  the  child's  ca- 
pacity ;  if  he  is  deft  and  intelligent  he  may  pro- 
ceed from  one  design  to  the  next.  Although  the 
curved  line  drawn  by  the  aid  of  spaces  or  dots 
comes  latest  in  Froebel's  school  of  linear  drawing 
and  sewing,  it  is  placed  there  only  because  it  is 
difficult  for  the  child  to  make  it  properly  or  use 
it  in  designs  successfully.  But,  long  before  he  is 
able  to  draw  curves  unaided,  he  can  sew  curving 
outlines  drawn  for  him,  and  it  is  appropriate  that 
he  should  begin  work  with  these  because  they  are 
all  connected  with  life  forms  and  in  line  with  his 
study  of  the  gifts. 

When  it  is  time  to  begin  the  linear  sewing,  and 
that  date  depends  entirely  upon  the  age  and  at- 
tainments of  the  particular  child,  we  give  a  course 
somewhat  like  the  following.  It  is  in  essentials 
the  same  as  that  given  by  Froebel,  though  con- 
siderably abbreviated,  and  would  be  still  more 
shortened  by  some  kindergartners  and  probably 
lengthened  by  others. 

^  Fully  described  in  Emma  Marwedel's  System  of  Child  Culture 
and  Childhood's  Poetry  and  Studies.    D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 


52  SEWING 

LINEAR   SEWING. 

Vertical  lines  of  one  space.  (The  length  of 
the  space  is  optional.) 

Vertical  lines  of  two  spaces. 

Vertical  lines  of  one  and  two  spaces. 

Horizontal  lines  of  one  space. 

Horizontal  lines  of  two  spaces. 

Horizontal  lines  of  one  and  two  spaces. 

Horizontal  and  vertical  lines  and  their  combi- 
nations. 

Diagonal  lines  crossing  one  and  two  space 
squares  in  both  directions. 

Combinations  of  diagonals  of  squares. 

Diagonal  lines  crossing  vertical  and  horizontal 
oblongs. 

Combinations  of  these  diagonal  lines. 

Curves  used  in  various  ways. 

Combinations  of  curves  in  circles  and  ovals. 

Outlines  of  geometrical  planes. 

It  is  again  a  matter  for  the  judgment  of  each 
kindergartner  whether  the  child  shall  sew  an  en- 
tire card  of  one-space  lines,  for  instance,  or  shall 
devote  half  the  card  to  these  and  half  to  the  two- 
space.  In  our  opinion,  however,  the  linear  sewing 
may  be  considerably  abbreviated  from  its  early 
form  as  used  in  the  German  kindergartens,  with- 
out any  detriment  to  its  real  value. 

We  must  remember  that  during  the  execution 


SEWING  63 

of  the  school  of  lines  the  children  are  to  have 
ample  room  for  invention,  which  they  may  execute 
first  in  drawing  and  then  transfer  to  q^.^  g^^_ 
cardboard,  or  may  "  sew  out "  upon  the  *"*^* 
card  itself,  which  should  be  perforated  for  that 
purpose  at  the  corner  of  each  square.  They  must 
also  have  an  opportunity  to  work  out  any  impres- 
sions they  may  have  received  from  objects  around 
them  in  Nature ;  else,  by  constant  use  of  straight 
lines  they  will  grow  mechanical,  and  the  imagi- 
nation and  love  of  beauty  will  lack  proper  de- 
velopment. The  selection  of  objects  to  be  sewn 
depends  upon  the  central  thought  of  the  week, 
month,  or  term  ;  in  other  words,  upon  the  domi- 
nant interests  of  the  child,  and  is  never  to  be 
arbitrarily  selected  by  the  kindergartner.  If  she 
prepares  for  him  any  object  of  which  she  has  a 
good  pattern  or  which  pleases  her  taste,  it  may  be 
as  far  removed  from  his  present  thoughts  as  Dan 
is  from  Beersheba.  If  this  be  so,  even  though 
the  form  be  carefully  explained  and  a  little  vital- 
ity thus  injected  into  it,  it  will  be  so  out  of  the 
current  of  thought  and  feeling  as  to  be  of  little 
educational  value,  save  perhaps  to  the  hands  and 
fingers. 

The  work   upon  which  the  child  is   engaged 
needs  constant  question   and   comment  conversa- 
f rom   the   kindergartner,   else  she  can-  woik.  °" 
not  be  sure  of  his  comprehension.     He  may  have 
been  talking  and  singing  of  the  cow,  for  instance, 


64  SEWING 

for  quite  a  long  period,  and  apparently  know 
all  about  her  milk,  horns,  hide,  and  meat,  yet, 
upon  question,  it  will  very  probably  be  found 
that  he  supposes  the  animal  to  be  of  the  same 
size  as  the  picture  he  is  sewing  on  a  card,  four  by 
four  inches.  This  discouraging  fact,  which  is  not 
at  all  uncommon  and  allied  to  many  others  of  the 
same  character,  quite  justifies  Dr.  Stanley  Hall's 
remark  that  there  is  next  to  nothing  of  peda- 
gogic value,  the  knowledge  of  which  it  is  safe  to 
assume  at  the  outset  of  school-life. 

The  child  has  now  no  difficulty  with  invention 
if  he  has  been  led  in  the  right  direction, 

Invention. 

and  has  been  allowed  freedom  in  which 
to  expand  all  his  possibilities,  those  inborn  possi- 
bilities which  seem  to  be  in  every  child.  Unless 
we  can  develop  inventive  ability  in  every  occupa- 
tion, we  have  stopped  short  of  the  true  ideal ; 
perfect  work  is  not  enough,  it  is  not  even  espe- 
cially to  be  desired ;  the  purely  inventive  work  of 
the  child  is  the  only  real  test  of  the  value  of  our 
teaching. 

We  should  not  naturally  expect  perhaps  to  see 
inventive  power,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  art  of 
designing,  in  the  poor  little  denizens  of  wretched 
homes,  barren  as  they  are  of  artistic  influences, 
but  we  do  find  and  develop  just  that  in  the 
free  kindergartens,  through  these  wonderful  ap- 
pliances of  an  educational  system  which  works 
through  the   heart   and   soul  to   the   mind   and 


SEWING  55 

fingers  of  a  child.  We  may  not  call  these  pro- 
ducts of  infantile  skill  true  inventions,  "pevha^s, 
since  that  word  would  imply  a  more  conscious 
use  of  power ;  but  we  may  think  of  them  as 
"  findings  "  of  the  child. ^  He  has  really  found 
a  new  and  beautiful  combination  of  the  old  and 
familiar  lines,  and  it  is  his  own.  He  becomes  the 
tiny  Columbus  of  a  new  world  of  art.  Who  can 
doubt  that  this  glimpse  of  the  beautiful  will  re- 
main as  an  ideal  ?  Who  can  doubt  that  when  the 
poor  little  one  has  once  experienced  the  joy  of 
creating  he  will  long  to  feel  it  again  and  again, 
and  be  more  impatient  of  mechanical  routine  and 
joyless  monotony  in  his  after  work,  —  knowing 
that  there  is  a  higher  and  better  way  of  working, 
a  way  in  which  each  individual  may  give  to  the 
world  the  same  old  truths,  indeed,  but  stamped 
with  a  new  image  and  glorified  by  his  own  origi- 
nality ? 

An  aspiring  teacher  is  proud  of   the  visible 
proofs  of  her  skill  in  teaching,  but  the  True  value 
best  proofs  of  that  skill  are  not,  and  gartenwork. 
never  can  be,  visible.     The  child  cannot  bring 

1  "  As  soon  as  ideas  no  longer  present  themselves  in  the  order 
in  which  the  intelligence  has  first  perceived  them,  as  soon  as 
something  has  become  altered,  —  were  it  only  one  link  sup- 
pressed in  a  series  of  associated  images,  —  there  may  be  said  to 
have  taken  place  an  artificial  mental  composition,  a  modified  con- 
ception of  reality,  a  spontaneous  work  of  productive  imagination. 
These  free  combinations  of  images  arise  spontaneously  in  young 
children."  —  Perez's  First  Three  Years  of  Childhood,  p.  149. 


56  SEWING 

them  home  in  tangible  form,  and  thus  by  thought- 
less parents  they  are  often  quite  unnoticed.  We 
wish  kindergarten  work  to  be  beautiful,  certainly, 
but  not  at  any  sacrifice  or  over-exertion  of  the 
child's  powers.  The  work,  after  all  is  said  and 
done,  is  not  the  end,  but  only  the  means.  In  it- 
self it  is,  like  all  other  means,  worthless,  except 
that  it  has  been  wrought  in  love,  patience,  perse- 
verance, and  understanding.  As  Dr.  Hailmann 
says,  "the  truly  valuable  results  of  the  kinder- 
garten are  to  be  sought  in  the  drift  and  ten- 
dency of  the  head  and  heart ;  they  become  mani- 
fest in  the  mode  of  thinking  and  feeling;  they 
are  known  by  their  permanence  and  their  growth, 
and  they  seem  to  be  part  and  parcel  of  the  child." 

We  speak  of  the  greatness  of  the  idea  of  per- 
sonal activity  in  Froebel's  system ;  and,  indeed, 
"  We  learn  through  doing  "  is  one  of  the  articles 
of  our  educational  creed  ;  but  the  foundation  of 
that  creed  lies  still  deeper. 

Being  is  as  much  better  than  doing,  as  it  is 
far  more  difficult ;  for  mere  activity  is  always  a 
truncated  cone  ;  it  has  no  point  with  which  to 
pierce  the  highest,  —  and  no  occupation  whatever, 
of  any  educational  scheme  in  the  universe,  can 
have  any  moral  bearing  unless  it  is  rooted  in 
these  truths  ;  unless  it  is  the  outgrowth  of  the 
child's  individual  powers,  and  has  become,  not 
mere  doing,  but  actual  living.  Therefore,  if  we 
want   beautiful  work  we  must  try  to  touch  the 


SEWING  57 

springs  of  action,  to  influence  the  will-power,  not 
the  fingers  of  the  child  ;  then  he  will  strive  for 
perfection  himself,  with  touching  zeal.  We  shall 
be  working  in  him  "  to  will  and  to  do ;  "  we  shall 
not  then  have  to  drive  ;  we  may  beckon,  and  he 
will  be  glad  to  follow. 

But  here  let  us  note  one  thing ;  we  must  judge 
children  by  their  efforts  and  not  by  their  produc- 
tions. The  child  born  with  clumsy  fingers  proba- 
bly tries  as  hard  as  his  little  neighbor  who  does 
everything  well,  and  he  therefore  needs  encour- 
agement and  commendation,  instead  of  compar- 
ison with  others  to  his  disadvantage. 

The  objections  to  sewing  from  a  physio-psy- 
chological  point  of  view   are   substan-  objections 

.1-11  »  .  1     '**  *he  Occu- 

tially  the  same  as  to  perforating,  and  pation. 
are  given  so  fully  in  the  previous  chapter  as  to 
need  no  repetition  here.  They  do  not  hold  as 
much  weight  perhaps  in  regard  to  sewing,  although 
even  here  the  strain  of  the  fine  work  upon  the 
accessory  muscles  of  very  young  children  is  much 
to  be  deprecated.  Since  most  kindergartners, 
however,  are  now  awake  to  this  danger,  there  is 
every  hope  that  such  changes  will  everywhere  be 
made  in  the  occupation  as  to  avert  it  altogether. 
There  is  no  reason  why  the  sewing  patterns 
should  not  be  designed  on  twice  as  large  a  scale 
as  at  present,  much  larger  needles  used,  and 
single  instead  of  split  zephyr  be  employed  for 
working. 


58  SEWING 

The  invention  of  the  sewing -card  perforator 
before  mentioned  allows  the  pricking  of  larger 
holes,  and  these  should  be  made  at  least  half  an 
inch  apart  for  the  younger  children.  If  the  card- 
board now  employed  does  not  prove  strong  enough 
for  the  heavy  worsted,  Bristol-board  might  be 
substituted,  or  perhaps  the  wee  ones  of  the  flock 
might  use  pasteboard,  or  leatherette  glued  to  the 
ordinary  cardboard,  which  would  admit  of  the  use 
of  double  zephyr. 

The  occupations  in  general  require  somewhat 
Sewing  time  less  Concentration  than  the  gifts,  and 
riod?^*  therefore  the  time  devoted  to  their  use 

may  well  be  one  of  great  sociability.  Free  con- 
versation should  always  be  allowed,  although  in 
gentle  tones  so  as  not  to  disturb  other  classes. 
It  is  in  these  quiet,  sunshiny  hours  when  the  chil- 
dren are  blissfully  happy  in  their  employment 
and  perfectly  unconscious  and  unconstrained, 
that  the  kindergartner  learns  best  to  know  her 
little  flock.  The  bits  of  childish  philosophy  or 
of  borrowed  grown-up  wisdom  that  drop  from 
their  lips,  the  odd  sayings,  the  miniature  experi- 
ences, the  friendly  advice  and  warnings  to  erring 
neighbors,  the  snatches  of  hapj^y  song,  the  tender 
words  and  caresses  to  this  favored  among  women 
as  she  passes  on  her  errands  of  help  and  counsel, 
all  are  so  many  indications  of  the  inner  life  of 
her  charges.  If  she  represses  all  this  gentle, 
lightsome  play  of  life  and  happiness  and  content, 


SEWING  69 

and  requires  strict  silence,  wherein  does  the  dis- 
cipline of  her  child-garden  differ  from  that  of  the 
military  school?  If  the  children  are  never  to 
speak  except  when  they  answer  questions,  how 
are  we  to  know  aught  of  their  inner  life  ? 

Not  only  conversation,  but  singing,  too,  should 
be  encouraged  during  the  sewing  and  all  other 
occupations,  always  with  the  proviso  that  some 
neighboring  family  is  not  busy  with  an  intricate 
problem  that  demands  comparative  stillness  in 
the  room.  There  are  certain  songs  appropriate 
for  each  occupation  which  the  children  delight 
to  learn,  and  it  is  an  even  greater  proof  of  their 
joy  and  spontaneity  when  they  burst  into  some 
unsuggested  bit  of  music.  If  we  are  ever  tempted 
to  hush  such  songs  without  good  cause  we  should 
recall  the  familiar  lines :  — 

"  Give  us,  O  give  us  the  man  who  sings  at  his 
work!  He  will  do  more  in  the  same  time;  he 
will  do  it  better ;  he  will  persevere  longer.  One 
is  scarcely  sensible  of  fatigue  whilst  he  marches 
to  music,  and  the  very  stars  are  said  to  make  har* 
mony  as  they  revolve  in  their  spheres. 

"  Wondrous  is  the  strength  of  cheerfulness, 
altogether  past  calculation  its  powers  of  endur- 
ance. Efforts  to  be  permanently  useful  must  be 
uniformly  joyous,  —  a  spirit  all  sunshine,  graceful 
from  very  gladness,  beautiful  because  bright." 

We  must  remember  in  conclusion  these  impor 
tant  points :  — 


60  SEWING 

1.  A  piece  of  work  must  never  be  sent  to  the 
child's  home  unless  it  is  done  as  well  as  he  can  do 
Closing  1*5  ^^^  sometimes  our  only  way  of  reach- 
ThoughtB.  -jjg  ^YiQ  parents  is  through  this  very 
work,  coming  to  them  as  a  message,  and  telling 
them  how  the  child  spends  his  time  when  away. 

2.  The  child  should  strive  to  make  the  wrong 
side  of  the  work  as  neat  as  the  right.  There 
ought  not  to  be  any  real  wrong  side  in  work,  or 
people  either  !  It  must  be  different,  but  it  need 
not  be  untidy,  and  to  allow  the  little  one  full 
liberty  to  cross  and  knot  and  tangle  and  waste 
the  worsted  on  the  reverse  of  the  card,  so  long  as 
the  face  of  it  looks  well,  is  absolutely  to  foster 
deception  and  falsity  in  concrete  things. 

3.  In  sewing  vertical  and  horizontal  lines,  let 
one  side  of  the  work  be  like  the  other,  so  that  the 
child's  idea  of  direction  may  be  clear  and  distinct. 
With  vertical  lines  we  should  guide  the  child  to 
sew  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the  card,  and 
with  horizontal,  from  left  to  right. 

4.  If  a  child  has  finished  a  card  with  some 
difficulty,  and  has  needed  considerable  aid  in  its 
accomplishment,  let  him  do  another  of  the  same 
kind  entirely  by  himself,  and  he  will  observe  with 
pride  his  improvement. 

5.  In  every  possible  way  we  should  impress  the 
child  with  the  idea  that  he  is  working  for  others, 
as  well  as  for  himself,  and  thus  develop  his  better 
nature.     This   should   be   our   aim  in  all   these 


SEWING  61 

small  industries,  which  we  deem  so  valuable  and 
which  are  so  dear  to  children. 

The  dainty  cards  embroidered  with  such  care 
and  looked  upon  so  proudly  by  the  little  ones, 
may  all  be  mounted  in  books  for  a  present,  or 
they  may  be  made  up  into  some  pretty  usefid 
article  at  Christmas  time,  and  delight  the  parents 
with  the  marvelous  achievements  of  their  babies. 
But  the  kindergartner  must  beware  lest  such  work 
be  allowed  to  remain  a  delight  and  a  profit,  not 
to  the  community,  but  to  each  child  alone,  and 
thus  foster  selfishness.  He  should  be  guided  to 
a  willingness  to  give  up  his  work  occasionally  for 
the  common  good,  and  so  his  "  benevolence  and 
social  efficiency  be  deeply  stirred  in  cooperative 
exercises  that  lead  him  to  a  practical  union  in 
work  with  other  children." 


DRAWING 

**  Considering  the  importance  of  drawing  as  a  part  of  educa- 
tion, one  gets  the  assurance  and  conviction  that  his  enjoyment 
of  the  physical  world  is  beautified  and  increased  thereby.  The 
entire  world  of  form  and  color  opens  itself  to  him.  A  new 
sense  awakens,  which  receives  the  liveliest  impressions.  One 
learns  to  appreciate  nature,  —  to  value,  love,  and  rejoice  over 
its  beauties."  Goethe. 

"  The  love  of  drawing  shows  itself  in  many  forms.  The  child 
draws  with  his  finger  in  the  air,  traces  outlines  in  the  sand, 
makes  shadow  pictures  on  the  wall,  blows  on  the  window-pane, 
and  covers  its  clouded  surface  with  his  motley  fancies,  and  even 
bites  his  cookies  into  the  forms  of  men  and  animals." 

Susan  E.  Blow. 

"  As  the  first  step  in  drawing  is  to  learn  to  see  correctly,  it  is 
evident  that  all  the  exercises,  both  in  gifts  and  occupations, 
prepare  for  the  use  of  the  pencil  and  chalk.  As  the  mediation 
of  word  and  object,  drawing  is  of  vast  importance  in  its  reaction 
on  the  mind,  and  as  the  soul  of  all  technical  processes,  it  is  the 
indispensable  basis  of  industrial  education." 

Susan  E.  Blow. 

"Drawing  furnishes  a  means  of  expressing  ideas,  and  man 
first  resorted  to  it  for  that  purpose ;  but  when  it  is  perverted 
and  fails  to  accomplish  this  purpose,  it  does  not  produce  the  best 
results.  Any  method  that  teaches  words  before  ideas  is  radi- 
cally wrong,  and  any  method  that  teaches  drawing  without  using 
it  as  a  means  of  expressing  or  representing  ideas,  is  radically 
wrong,  because  it  leaves  out  that  which  stimulates  and  develops 
the  powers  of  the  mind.  Reproducing  a  line  without  considering 
its  length  or  direction  does  very  little  to  increase  one's  power. 


DBA  WING  63 

**  That  training-  which  leads  pupils  to  be  imitators  only,  does 
little  to  develop  thought  and  action.  Drawing  ought  to  teach 
seeing,  doing,  and  knowing.  Drawing  ought  to  cultivate  the 
hand  and  the  eye,  and  increase  the  knowledge  of  the  object 
represented."  W.  W.  Speer. 

That  drawing  is  one  of  the  earliest  arts  of 
primeval  man  is  a  fact  too  clearly  evi-  Antiquity  of 
denced  and  too  widely  known  to  need  Drawing, 
extensive  comment  here.  From  that  rude  pic- 
ture on  the  rocks  by  which  the  cave-dweller 
indicated  man  escaping  in  affright  from  the  ap- 
proach of  some  prehistoric  monster,  to  the  like- 
ness of  that  monster  etched  on  his  own  bones, 
the  rebus-like  inscriptions  on  the  tombs  and  mon- 
uments of  the  Egyptians,  and  the  hieroglyphics 
and  picture-writing  of  primitive  tribes,  some  of 
which  are  still  in  use,  we  come  finally  to  our  mod- 
em letters,  which  occupy  the  highest  step  in  the 
scale  of  the  language  of  signs.  Picture-writing 
in  shorthand,  as  it  were,  may  still  be  seen  per- 
fectly illustrated  by  the  whole  written  language 
of  the  Chinese,  and  should  we  trace  the  art  of 
drawing  from  its  earliest  inception,  we  should 
find  that  its  value  in  ornament  was  commonly 
recognized  even  earlier  than  its  value  as  a  means 
of  record  and  communication,  for  it  is  a  univer- 
sal truth  that  man  develops  the  ornamental  dur- 
ing the  infancy  of  every  race,  before  the  useful.^ 

1  "  Following  the  distinct  teaching  of  history,  and  particu- 
larly the  teaching  of  prehistoric  times,  it  is  clear  that  the 
artistic  faculties  of  human  beings  were  the  first  to  develop,  and 


64  DRAWING 

Nor  do  we  need  to  prove  that  drawing  is  nat- 
ural to  children,  and  is  one  of  the  first  means 
Drawing        whicli  thev  use  to  make  the  inward  out- 

natural  to  "^ 

CMidhood.  ward,  and  the  outward  inward.  A  soft, 
smooth  surface,  whether  it  be  sand,  or  earth,  or 
mud,  or  snow,  offers  irresistible  attractions  for 
marking  and  rude  sketching,  even  to  grown  peo- 
ple, and  some  of  us  have  not  even  yet  passed 
the  time  when  a  cloudy  window-pane  offers  a  fas- 
cinating field  for  the  pursuit  of  art.  "  What 
child,"  as  a  thoughtful  kindergartner  has  lately 
said,  "from  Giotto  down,  has  not  been  repri- 
manded for  defacing  margins  of  books,  the  wall- 
paper and  woodwork,  in  his  efforts  to  satisfy  the 
longing  to  create  outwardly  the  pictures  which 
float  before  his  inward  vision  ?  It  is  a  wise  mo- 
ther who  destroys  such  idols  only  by  supplying 
better  ones,  which  in  this  case  come  in  the  form 
of  suitable  materials  to  serve  this  craving." 

"  The  kindergarten  cannot  be  too  much  prized 
for  having  gathered  in  the  now  scattered  work 
and  play  occupations,  which  once  kept  together 
around  the  hearth  children  with  their  parents  in 
the  spare  hours  of  the  evening,"  ^  and  among  these 
occupations  drawing  is  perhaps  the  most  valuable, 
as  it  is  without  doubt  the  most  universal. 

that  the  art  of  those  times  was  always  of  a  decorative  nature, 
the  existence  of  inany  primitive  nations  being'  only  known  to  us 
by  their  art  remains."     (Professor  Henry  Talbot.) 
1  E.  Seguin. 


DBA  WING  65 

In  all  civilized  nations  children  are  now  taught 
to  draw,  but  the  object  of  this  instruc-  object  of 
tion  by  all  these  varied  methods  is  not,  DrawSI. 
for  the  most  part,  and  certainly  not  in  the  ear- 
lier stages,  to  make  artists.  It  is,  —  or  it  should 
be  at  all  events,  —  the  education  of  the  eye,  the 
training  of  the  mind,  and  the  cultivation  of  an- 
other medium  of  seK-expression.  The  increased 
attention  given  of  late  years  to  drawing  in  our 
schools  has  proved,  as  Dr.  W.  N.  Hailmann  says, 
that  "there  is  no  child  devoid  of  a  serviceable 
amount  of  talent  for  drawing,  that  all  children 
can  learn  to  draw  just  as  all  children  can  learn  to 
speak ;  and  that  the  attention  given  to  this  sub- 
ject has  stimulated  in  our  youth  the  tendency  to 
choose  avocations  in  life  that  call  for  the  exercise 
of  artistic  taste  and  technical  skill." 

We  need  not  discuss  here  the  merit  of  the 
various  systems  by  which  drawing  is  Drawing 
taught  in  the  schools  of  the  •United  ^^'^'^' 
States.  The  mass  of  literature  on  the  subject 
and  examples  of  the  practical  work  are  within 
the  reach  of  all  and  open  to  the  critical  judg- 
ment of  any  person,  if  that  person  be  sufficiently 
fair  and  lucid  in  mind  to  hear  and  read  patiently 
and  weigh  carefully  the  arguments  for  and  argu- 
ments against ;  the  protestations  of  faith  in,  and 
heretical  denials  of  ;  the  attack  and  defense  con- 
stantly going  on  among  the  champions  of  drawing 
systems.     It  seems  to  an  impartial  observer  that 


bb  DB  AWING 

there  is  some  good  in  all  of  them  when  rightly- 
interpreted,  and  that  there  is  little  good  in  any 
when  in  the  hands  of  the  wrong  person. 

The  lively  discussion  as  to  the  systems  of  draw- 
Kindergar-  '^^S  ^^  schools,  however,  is  equaled  and 
tenDrawing.  ^^^^  possibly  excelled  by  the  agitation 
of  the  same  matter  in  kindergarten  circles.  No 
one  of  the  Froebel  occupations  is  in  so  chaotic  a 
state  as  drawing.  Every  training  teacher  has  her 
own  method  or  methods  of  teaching  the  branch 
which  are  in  many  respects  quite  unlike  those  of 
any  other  training  teacher;  every  kindergarten 
centre  is  trying  experiments  on  different  lines,  is 
casting  aside  old  systems  and  taking  up  new  ones, 
or  possibly  reversing  this  process  ;  there  is  little 
agreement  anywhere  save  in  a  quite  general  dis- 
satisfaction with  what  has  been  done,  an  aspi- 
ration after  better  things,  and  a  "  discontent " 
which  is  perhaps,  as  John  Richard  Green  says, 
"  the  only  true  source  of  progress."  It  is  idle 
for  the  kindergartner  to  suppose  that  she  can  so 
arrange  her  scheme  of  drawing  as  to  satisfy  the 
artist,  the  artisan,  and  the  designer,  while  she 
avoids  everything  which  she  is  warned  against 
by  the  physiologist  and  the  psychologist  and  puts 
into  practice  all  that  they  recommend,  at  the  same 
time  following  out  her  own  ideals,  gratifying  the 
child,  and  keeping  in  fellowship  with  the  leading 
drawing  systems.  It  is  true  that  Solomon  said 
that  he  that  hearkeneth  unto  counsel  is  wise,  but 


DB  AWING  67 

not  many  pages  further  on  he  remarks  that  it  is 
not  good  to  have  respect  of  persons  in  judgment. 
The  crying  need  in  all  these  matters  is  "  still  a 
finer  common  sense."  While  the  kindergartner 
listens  attentively  to  her  multitude  of  counselors, 
she  must  at  the  same  time  retain  an  independent 
judgment  of  her  own,  and  having  firmly  fixed 
in  her  mind  certain  purposes  which  kindergar- 
ten drawing  should  carry  out,  must  herself  decide 
what  will  be  the  best  methods  of  obtaining  the 
desired  results. 

Perhaps  we  should  all  agree,  to  recapitulate 
somewhat,  that  these  purposes  are :  — 

a.  The  education  of  the  eye. 

b.  The  training  of  the  hand. 

c.  The  training  of  the  mind. 

d.  The  cultivation  of  another  mode  of  self- 
expression. 

e.  The  acquirement  of  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  art. 

And  we  should  also  agree  that  "  while  the  hand, 
the  brain,  the  eye  are  growing,  is  the  time  to  give 
them  the  habits  essential  to  their  highest  utility, 
such  as  dexterity,  flexibility,  skill,  and  powers  of 
perception  and  conception." 

We  shall  not  here  attempt  to  give  our  opinion 
as  to  what  methods  will  best  attain  these  desirable 
and  valuable  results.  We  shall  describe  the  four 
kinds  of  drawing.  Linear,  Outline,  Circidar,  and 
Freehand,  some  or  all  of  which  are  in  use  in  the 


68  DB  AWING 

principal  kindergartens  of  the  world ;  we  shall 
endeavor  to  give  the  various  arguments  for  and 
against  them,  and  having  presented  all  sides  of 
the  subject  as  clearly  as  may  be  in  our  power, 
leave  to  our  readers  the  decision  as  to  which  and 
how  many  of  the  methods  they  shall  use  in  teach- 
ing the  art  to  little  children. 


LINEAR  DRAWING 

"  The  rolling  sphere,  the  thrown  and  falling  stone,  the  water 
dammed  up  and  guided  into  little  diverging  ditches,  have  taught 
the  child  that  the  direction  of  the  effect  of  power  is  always  lin- 
ear." Fr.  Froebel. 

"  As  the  drawing  of  lines  precedes  the  drawing  of  figures,  so 
also  there  proceeds  from  it  the  invention  of  forms,  ascending  to 
imitation  and  copying ;  and,  further,  after  the  pupil  has  made 
the  required  progress  in  geometry  and  mathematics,  perspective 
drawing,  instruction  regarding  light  and  shade,  as  well  as  draw- 
ing from  nature,  landscape  drawing,  etc.,  will  follow.  The  last 
aim  here,  as  everywhere,  is  the  representation  of  the  human 
figure."  Fr.  Froebel. 

"  The  unpracticed  eye  of  a  child  will  first  take  in  only  the  prin- 
cipal lines  of  objects,  and  of  these  first  the  straight  ones,  before 
it  can  master  curves,  surfaces,  and  filling  in.  We  notice  the  same 
characteristics  in  the  people  who  first  practiced  the  science  of 
architecture.  Their  drawings  consist  of  outlines,  linear  represeu- 
tations  in  straight  strokes,  without  curves  or  perspective,  as  in 
the  first  attempts  of  children."   B.  von  Marenholtz-Bulow. 

Materials  for  Linear  Drawing :  Checkered  or  dotted  paper, 
the  size  of  the  squares  in  the  network  being  commonly  about 
one  quarter  inch ;  slates  squared  or  dotted  on  the  same  scale  ;  ^ 
slate  and  lead  pencils,  and  colored  crayons. 

Froebel's  idea  of  drawing,  and  his  plans  for 
introducing  it  as  one  of  the  first  occu-  proebei's 
pations  for  young  children,  are  exceed-  Eln^/*"^ 
ingly  ingenious.     The  touching  or  han-  ^'^^"^8- 
dling  of  the  solid  body  (the  most  important  means 

^  Slates  are  now  much  less  used  than  formerly. 


70  LINEAR  DRAWING 

of  acquiring  knowledge  during  the  first  year  of 
a  child's  life,  the  period  of  his  unconscious  sus- 
ceptibility) is  now  changed  to  the  looking  at 
objects  presented  to  his  observation,  and  repre- 
senting their  images  by  drawing;  so  that  the 
image  of  a  body,  so  to  speak,  takes  the  place  of 
the  body  itself.  "In  drawing,  the  child  has 
reached  the  ideal  representation  of  solids,  by 
means  of  light  and  shade,  marks  made  upon  a 
surface  to  represent  outlines.  We  have  a  com- 
plete transition  from  the  tangible  solid  to  the 
ideal  representation  of  it." 

Froebel's  method  of  drawing  ^  unites  all  other 
kindergarten  occupations  into  an  organic  succes- 
sion, by  following  the  use  of  blocks  (solids),  lay- 
ing of  tablets  (planes),  and  sticks  and  rings 
(lines).  These  occupations  are  preparatory ;  the 
laying  of  sticks  was  a  sort  of  drawing  in  wood- 
lines,  and  gave  to  the  child  his  first  ideas  of 
invention,  by  making  it  easy  for  him  to  devise 
figures  in  which  opposites  should  surround  a 
centre. 

Froebel  observed,  with  greatest  love  and  dis- 
crimination, the  nature  and  natural  instincts  of 
the  child ;  and  the  pleasure  found  in  scribbling, 
that  universal  instinct  of  childhood,  being  legiti- 
mately controlled  and  directed,  is  made  the  basis 

1 A  complete  description  of  Froebel's  plans  for  Linear  Draw- 
ing is  to  be  found  in  The  Education  of  Man  (tr.  by  Josephine 
Jarvis),  pages  209  to  221. 


LINEAB  DRAWING  71 

of  kindergarten  drawing,  an  occupation  both 
artistic  and  mathematical,  valuable  alike  to  head 
and  hand,  for  mental  training,  manual  dexterity, 
and  cultivation  of  the  aesthetic  nature.  Drawing 
is  of  paramount  importance  as  an  occupation, 
because  the  child  is  enabled  by  it  to  reproduce 
quickly  and  easily  the  images  imparted  to  his 
mind,  and  to  give  them  a  visible  representation, 
whereby  they  become  truly  objective,  and  are  only 
then  understood. 

The  child,  at  the  early  age  of  three  to  five 
years,  is  considered  by  many  persons  to  ^se  of  the 
be  hardly   able  to  execute  satisfactory  weMn^°' 
freehand  drawing ;  and,  therefore,  an  in-  ^™'^"^^- 
termediate  step  is  to  be  provided,  which  will  serve 
to  develop  the  correct  eye  and  steady  hand.     This 
intermediate  step  is  supplied  by  the  use  of  the  net 
or  square,  consisting  of  any  open  space  formed  by 
the  intersection  of  vertical  and  horizontal  lines, 
and  in   this   the  child   finds  the  necessary  aid, 
for  it  is  only  an  aid,  and  not  too  great  a  one,  the 
dots  lately  introduced  answering  the  same  pur- 
pose.^    The  child  must  be  just  as  painstaking  with 
as.  without  them,  and  by  their  help  he  accom- 
plishes quite  wonderful  and  beautiful  results. 

These  squares,  commonly  about  one  fourth 
inch  in  size,  are  found  on  slates,  as  well  as  on 
paper,  enabling  him  to  find  distances  and  compre- 

^  A  triangular  network  on  the  same  scale  is  also  sometimes 


72  LINEAR  BE  AWING 

hend  measurement,  —  training  him  to  exactness 
of  observation  and  correct  eye-measure. 

Froebel  explains,  as  follows,  the  principle  on 
which  the  drawing  net,  or  web,  is  formed,  and  its 
value  to  the  child :  — 

"  All  formation  is  on  the  condition  of  uniting 
various  parts ;  what  is  united  forms,  as  it  were, 
a  web  or  texture,  and  that  exists  only  by  the 
connecting  of  opposing  lines  or  threads,  as,  for 
example,  the  web  of  the  spider,  which  only  thus 
holds  together.  No  organism  exists  without  such 
a  knitting  of  parts,  without  at  least  approxi- 
mately forming  a  web,  even  if  it  is  not  visible  to 
the  eye.  The  magnifying  power  of  the  micro- 
scope shows  us  plainly  the  net-like  web,  whether 
it  is  upon  a  leaf,  or  upon  our  skin,  or  whatever 
it  may  be.  Even  the  smallest  cell,  which  is  not 
visible  to  the  eye,  consists  of  a  web,  and  every- 
thing which  comes  into  view  from  the  invisible 
point  can  be  formed  in  no  other  way  than  by 
being  produced  thus  from  different  directions,  or 
shot  forth,  as  in  the  process  of  crystallization. 

"  Every  web  also  forms  a  net,  in  a  certain  way, 
by  the  crossing  of  the  lines  running  in  opposite 
directions.  But  this  net  exhibits  at  every  cross- 
ing, or  every  point  of  contact,  a  centre  which  is 
to  be  referred  to  some  circumference,  as  it  were, 
and  every  square  of  the  net  is  a  division  which 
offers  the  best  means  of  arrangement  of  the  dif- 
ferent parts  of  a  whole. 


LINEAR  DRAWING  73 

"  For  this  reason  I  give  my  children  a  net 
consisting  of  perpendicular  and  horizontal  lines, 
which  serves  as  a  guide  for  drawing  all  forms, 
and  regulates  and  facilitates  the  proportions  of 
parts  to  a  whole,  and  their  correct  and  equal 
coordination.  Painters  use  a  net  for  the  same 
purpose  in  their  copies  of  pictures. 

"The  net  affords  the  most  intelligible  image  of 
the  joining  of  opposites,  by  the  opposite  direction 
of  its  lines.  The  web  of  all  nature's  forms  is 
always  a  net,  and  expresses  the  law  as  the  norm 
of  all  formation."  ^ 

This  method,  ingenious  as  it  is  simple,  should 
lead  the  child  early  to  copy  objects  of  nature,  for 
if  he  has  gained  command  of  his  pencil,  and  has 
learned  how  to  manage  straight  and  curved  lines, 
the  rest  is  sure  to  follow. 

The  school  of  linear  drawing,  as  used  in  the 
kindergartens   of   to-day,  differs   some-  linear 
what  from  the  so-called  Froebel  school,  £X°^ 
but  none  the  less  carries  out  his  ideas  kIS™. 
of    development    exactly,   being   there-  ^*^°* 
fore  similar  in  theory,  but  proceeding  in  a  simpler 
and  somewhat  abbreviated  manner.     This  method 
beautifully  supplements  the  other  occupations  and 
the  outline  lessons  in  sewing,  stick  laying,  etc., 
and  by  giving  the  child,  in  comparatively  few  les- 
sons, lines  of   different   lengths   and   directions, 
enables  him  to  handle  his  pencil  easily  and  freely, 

1  Reminiscences  of  Froebel^  pages  231,  232. 


74  LINEAR  DRAWING 

and  gives  him  mobility  of  hand  and  wrist  by  exer- 
cising them  in  every  possible  way. 

The  course  pursued  is  much  the  same  as  that 
already  given  for  linear  sewing,  the  two  occupa- 
tions being  pursued  along  parallel  lines,  one  inter- 
preting the  other. 

a.  Vertical  lines  of  one  "  space."  ^ 

Horizontal  lines  of  one  "  space." 

Combinations  of  vertical  and  horizontal  lines 
producing  angles,  squares,  borders,  and  symmetri- 
cal figures. 

h.  Vertical  lines  of  two  spaces. 

Horizontal  lines  of  two  spaces. 

Combinations,  etc.,  as  above. 

c.  Vertical  lines  of  two  spaces. 
Horizontal  lines  of  one  space. 
Combinations,  etc.,  leading  finally  to  the  figure 

which  we  call  familiarly  the  "  vertical  oblong." 

d.  Vertical  lines  of  one  space. 
Horizontal  lines  of  two  spaces. 
Combinations,  etc.,  leading  to  the  "  horizontal 

oblong." 

e.  Diagonals  obtained  by  crossing  one  space 
square  in  both  directions. 

Combinations  resulting  in  square  turned  on 
point. 

f.  Diagonals  of  two -space  square. 
Combinations,  etc. 

g.  Diagonals  of  "  vertical  oblong." 

1  One  quarter  inch,  or  more. 


LINEAR  DRAWING  75 

Combinations  leading  to  the  rhomb,  or  "  dia- 
mond "  in  vertical  position. 

h.  Diagonals  of  "  horizontal  oblong." 

Combinations  resulting  in  the  rhomb,  or  "  dia- 
mond "  in  horizontal  position. 

i.  Right  isosceles  triangles  and  their  combina- 
tions. 

Equilateral  triangles  and  their  combinations. 

Right  scalene  triangles  and  their  combinations. 

Obtuse  isosceles  triangles  and  their  combina- 
tions. 

j.  Curves  of  a  circle  whose  diameter  is  first  one 
quarter  inch  and  is  increased  according  to  the 
ability  of  the  child. 

Combinations  leading  to  complete  circle. 

k.  Curves  of  oval  as  above. 

Combinations  as  above. 

In  the  majority  of  kindergartens  where  linear 
drawing  is  used  at  all,  it  is  preceded  by  the  draw- 
ing of  large  curves  and  circles  as  advised  by 
Froebel  in  the  "  Kindergarten  Wesen."  These 
are  executed  either  from  patterns  or  freehand,  to 
connect  with  the  study  of  the  ball  and  sphere  in 
first  and  second  gifts,  straight  lines  being  intro- 
duced when  the  cube  is  presented  to  observation. 

Froebel  advised   beginning   with   the   vertical 
line  in  drawing ;  and  the  kindergartners  order  of  in- 
in  general  have  continued  the  practice,  ijner'"^ 
as  it  has  seemed  to  them  to  be  earlier  noticed 
by  the  child,  more  easily  executed,  and  first  ap- 


76  LINEAR  DRAWING 

pealing  in  the  kindergarten  to  his  attention,  in 
the  string  by  which  the  ball  is  suspended.  This 
practice  is  supported  by  Dr.  Seguin,  who  says : 
"  By  the  physiological  method  the  child  draws  in 
the  following  order :  from  a  vertical  line  to  a 
horizontal,  thence  an  oblique,  a  curve."  ^ 

Against  this  opinion,  however,  must  be  pitted 
that  of  Henry  T.  Bailey,  supervisor  of  drawing 
for  Massachusetts,  who  states  as  explicitly ;  "  The 
easiest  order  for  children  in  drawing  is  first  the 
horizontal,  then  the  vertical,  then  the  oblique  line. 
Children  need  most  practice  on  horizontal  and 
vertical  because  they  naturally  make  use  of  ob- 
lique lines." 

This  is  evidently  a  matter  which  only  extended 
observations  of  children  will  settle,  and  it  behooves 
the  kindergartner  speedily  to  engage  in  these  ob- 
servations lest  it  prove  that  her  method  of  intro- 
ducing the  lines  may  have  been  incorrect  from 
the  first. 

The  rapidity  with  which  the  child  goes  through 
How  Linear  ^^^  "  school "  of  linear  drawing  is  de- 
Sly^e^i-  pendent  altogether  upon  his  ability  to 
versified.  exccutc  the  liucs  and  make  use  of  them 
in  invention.  Of  course,  however,  he  is  never 
to  be  detained  upon  a  certain  kind  of  line  until 
he  can  draw  it  perfectly.  That  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected at  this  early  age  and  is  not  even  to  be 
desired,  for  a  gain  in  execution  here  would  mean 
a  loss  of  power  later  on. 

1  E.  Seguin,  Education,  page  169. 


LINEAB  DRAWING  77 

With  the  smaller  children  the  lines  are  always 
to  have  the  light  of  fancy  thrown  upon  them,  and 
every  kindergartner  who  would  be  successful 
must  have  an  unfailing  supply  of  the  oil  by  which 
this  light  is  fed.  A  row  of  one-space  vertical 
lines,  for  instance,  is  comparatively  uninspiring  in 
itself,  but  how  fascinating  it  is  to  play  they  are 
fire-crackers  and  "  make  believe  "  that  Teddy  has 
pulled  them  all  out  of  the  package  and  is  laying 
them  on  the  table  one  space  apart  so  that  he  can 
count  them.  If  it  is  a  review  day  and  the  one- 
space  horizontal  lines  are  next  to  be  drawn,  it  is 
obvious  that  they  are  the  fire-crackers  lighted  and 
thrown  down  and  ready  to  go  off  with  a  delight- 
ful splutter  and  bang.  Then  the  angles,  of  course, 
are  parts  of  a  frame  that  the  men  are  putting  up 
to  hold  the  evening  fireworks,  and  the  vertical  and 
horizontal  lines  combined  into  a  border  or  "  Greek 
pattern,"  will  be  the  rockets  hissing  and  zigzag- 
ging across  the  sky  by  and  by.  Now  it  is  obvious 
to  any  person  of  sentiment  that  the  squares  must 
be  the  boxes  the  fireworks  were  bought  in,  and 
let  us  make  a  great  many  and  have  a  magnificent 
display ! 

Let  us  remember,  however,  that  this  fanciful 
interpretation  of  the  lines  must  have  a  vital 
relation  to  the  leading  thought  in  the  child's  mind 
and  the  subject  for  the  month,  though  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  these  last  are  always  synonymous. 
There  is  no  beauty,  pleasure,  nor  fitness  in  talking 


78  LINEAR  BE  AWING 

of  the  lines  as  soldiers  marching,  when  every 
child  is  aglow  with  the  recollection  of  the  dancing 
bear  he  saw  on  the  way  to  the  kindergarten ;  nor 
of  playing  they  are  fence  posts  when  everybody 
is  thrilled  with  the  Christmas  spirit  and  thinking 
of  the  "  Wonderful  Tree."  The  kindergartner 
who  makes  these  mistakes,  and  they  are  not  as 
uncommon  as  might  be  wished,  is  one  who  has 
but  a  faint  vision  of  the  truth. 

When  the  child  is  drawing,  we  should  also,  as 
Froebel  advised,  join  to  his  action  the  explain- 
ing word;  that  is,  connect  the  visible  with  the 
audible,  and  thus  bring  it  nearer  to  his  insight, 
recognition,  and  inner  perception.  Froebel  says, 
in  the  "  Kindergarten  Wesen,"  "  The  drawing  of 
lines,  of  the  curved  as  also  of  the  straight  lines, 
should  be  combined  with  the  explaining  word  or 
with  the  enlivening  little  song,  such  as  the  earlier 
ball  or  sphere  songs,  not  only  to  awaken  thereby, 
but  also  to  cultivate  and  strengthen,  the  general 
activity  of  the  child." 

Drawing  and  re-drawing  a  line  without  consid- 
ering its  length  or  its  direction  may  give  added 
dexterity,  but  it  can  give  nothing  else,  for  it  is 
a  purely  mechanical  process.  All  these  small  in- 
dustries of  the  kindergarten  must  be  lifted  from 
the  mechanical  into  a  higher  realm  and  must  be 
connected  with  the  intellect  and  sympathies  of  the 
child.  This  view  of  work  in  the  Froebel  system, 
which  is  one  of  its  distinctive  peculiarities,  accords 


LINEAR  DRAWING  79 

well  with   Schiller's  words  in  the  "  Song  of  the 
Bell:"  — 

"  And  well  it  stamps  our  human  race, 
And  hence  the  gift  to  understand, 
That  Man  within  the  heart  should  trace 
Whatever  he  fashions  with  the  hand." 

The  lines  and  their  connections  and  develop- 
ments should  never  be  presented  arbitrarily  to 
the  child  and  set  for  him  as  a  copy,  but  should 
be  the  outgrowth  of  previous  work  with  sticks, 
when  he  has  himself  discovered,  for  instance,  how 
vertical  and  horizontal  lines  may  be  joined  into 
four  positions  of  right  angles,  and  how  these  may 
be  combined  into  squares,  etc.  The  world-wide 
difference  between  precept  and  experience  lies  in 
the  two  methods  of  teaching. 

In  all  this  linear  drawing  the  child  should  be 
taught  to  see  what  he  is  doing  and  see  poetical 
the  end  of  the  line  before  he  makes  it.  ^'"^^^^"^ 
The  vertical  lines  should  be  drawn  from  up  to 
down,  the  horizontal  from  left  to  right.  If  a  long 
line  is  to  be  made,  a  dot  should  be  placed  at  the 
beginning  and  the  end,  and  then  the  two  points 
be  connected  with  a  swift  light  stroke.  The  chil- 
dren should  use  long  pencils,  and  the  teacher 
should  take  especial  pains  to  see  that  they  do  not 
bear  upon  them  too  heavily.  The  habit  of  eras- 
ing is  especially  to  be  condemned,  and  constant 
care  should  be  used  in  guarding  against  it,  for  it 
is  one  very  easily  acquired.    The  left  hand  should 


80  LINEAR  DRAWING 

be  employed  as  well  as  the  right  in  many  of  the 
exercises,  and  drawing  between  the  lines  fre- 
quently be  practiced. 

In  drawing  the  child  has  full  scope  for  inven- 
Dictations  ^^^^9  ^^^  syuthctic  cxerciscs  which  have 
in  Drawing,  i^qq-^  made  natural  and  easy  for  him  by 
former  analysis.  He  has  now  for  the  first  time 
the  full  delight  of  producing,  and  if  his  training 
has  been  careful,  his  designs  will  be  symmetri- 
cal in  form  and  exact  in  detail.  To  this  end  we 
must  be  especially  careful  in  all  our  dictations, 
and  in  the  sequence  of  lines  and  figures  which 
we  present  to  him.  They  are  most  valuable  for 
concentration  of  mind,  and  are  so  mingled  with 
mathematical  exercises  that  they  fix  in  the  mem- 
ory all  foregoing  lessons  in  direction  and  number. 
We  should  be  careful  that  the  child  understands 
each  lesson  as  he  passes  over  it,  we  must  use 
familiar  terms  for  the  vertical  and  horizontal 
lines,  the  acute  and  obtuse  angles,  until  he  can 
readily  remember  the  proper  ones,  and  require 
him  often  to  point  out  to  us  in  surrounding  ob- 
jects these  same  lines  and  angles,  that  we  may 
be  sure  of  his  comprehension.  The  dictations 
will  embrace  as  in  the  gifts,  forms  of  life,  beauty, 
and  knowledge,  and  of  course  have  a  direct  bear- 
ing upon  the  child's  inventive  work.  The  lan- 
guage in  which  they  are  given  should  be  perfectly 
simple  and  plain,  and  we  should  be  absolutely 
assured  of  what  we  want  to  say  before  we  say  it. 


LINEAR  DRAWING  81 

One  has  only  to  try  the  exercise  with  a  class  of 
adults  and  note  the  resulting  mistakes,  to  be 
convinced  of  the  vital  necessity  of  clearness  of 
thought  as  well  as  speech  in  dictations. 

Nor  should  we  be  too  inflexible  and  dogmatic 
in  these  exercises,  but  should  give  the  child  as 
much  freedom  as  he  can  wisely  be  intrusted  with. 
It  is  a  thousand  times  better  to  dictate  half  the 
central  figure  and  let  him  complete  the  other  half 
than  to  make  him  follow  your  words  to  the  last 
quarter  inch,  when  it  was  perfectly  obvious  some 
seconds  ago  what  the  design  was  to  be.  Who  has 
not  seen  the  kindergartner  holding  her  children 
by  sheer  force  of  will,  —  they  straining  at  the 
leash  meanwhile,  —  and  insisting  that  the  exercise 
shall  be  a  dictation  pure  and  simple,  and  that 
any  hapless  wight  who  "  guesses  "  what  is  going 
to  come  next  and  draws  it,  shall  erase  his  guess 
and  wait  for  the  spoken  word. 

It  is  wise  now  and  then  merely  to  give  the 
centre  of  the  design  and  let  each  complete  it  as 
he  desires,  for  the  individual  variations  on  the 
same  theme  will  be  most  pleasing  and  instructive 
to  the  children.  At  another  time  we  may  com- 
plete the  figure  and  encourage  the  child  to  invent 
an  appropriate  border,  or  we  can  give  the  border 
and  call  for  a  centrepiece. 

Other  useful  variations  of  the  exercise  are  to 
draw  a  figure  line  by  line  upon  the  blackboard, 
and  let  the  children  follow,  or  to  suggest  a  group- 


82  LINEAR  DRAWING 

work  invention  on  the  board,  or  on  large  paper,  in 
which  each  child  of  the  class  shall  take  part. 

Memory  drawing,  too,  is  often  advisable,  the 
kindergartner  or  an  older  child  drawing  a  figure 
upon  the  board  which  is  quickly  erased  and  then 
reproduced  by  the  class.  Such  exercises  must 
of  course  be  very  simple  at  first  and  gradually 
become  more  complex. 

The  copying  of  the  child's  own  inventions  in 
Copying  sticks,  tablets,  and  rings,  is  extremely 
Inventions,  interesting  and  beneficial,  because  it  re- 
sults in  drawing  on  reduced  or  extended  scales. 
The  space  on  the  tables  being  one  inch  square, 
and  that  on  the  paper  being  generally  a  fourth  of 
an  inch,  he  must  make  his  calculations,  and  trans- 
fer the  design  to  the  smaller  size,  so  that  it  will 
meet  his  eye  when  completed,  as  the  invention 
in  miniature.  The  use  of  colored  crayons  for  the 
copying  of  these  inventions,  as  well  as  sometimes 
for  the  drawing  of  the  school  of  lines,  gives  un- 
bounded pleasure  to  children,  and  should  be  con- 
sidered, as  Spencer  says,  "  as  the  natural  stimulus 
to  the  mastery  of  the  comparatively  difficult  and 
unattractive  form." 

Slate  drawing  has  grown  entirely  out  of  favor 
Slate  Draw-  ^^  many  kindergartens,  as  an  excessive 
*°^*  use  of  it  undoubtedly  cultivates  a  habit 

of  too  great  pressure  on  the  pencil  and  a  hard 
touch,  which  are  disastrous  to  paper  drawing. 
Another   objection  to  it   is  that   the   ease  with 


LINEAR  DRAWING  88 

which  incorrect  lines  are  erased  often  renders  the 
children  a  trifle  careless  in  execution  ;  and  to  add 
another  objection  still,  and  thus  pile  Pelion  on 
Ossa,  it  is  claimed  that  the  distribution  and  redis- 
tribution of  slates  and  slate  pencils  is  one  of  the 
most  dangerous  methods  of  transmitting  disease 
germs.  This  last  danger  might  be  averted  by 
a  special  slate  and  pencil  for  each  child,  and  a 
thorough  cleaning  occasionally  with  water  con- 
taining bichloride  of  mercury;  but  perhaps  a 
better  preventive  still  is  to  throw  aside  the  kin- 
dergarten slate  altogether,  or  only  use  it  for  occa- 
sional dictations. 

Froebel  says  in  regard  to  invention :  "  In  no 
other  way  can  human  work  be  trans-  indention 
formed  into  free  activity.  It  can  only  *°  i>ra^^in«- 
become  intellectual  action  out  of  what  has  been 
mere  mechanical  action,  when  the  occupation  of 
the  hand  is  at  the  same  time  the  occupation  of  the 
mind.  .  .  .  Every  human  work  corresponds  more 
or  less  with  creative  activity,  and  this  is  necessary 
in  order  to  make  man  the  image  of  his  Divine 
Creator,  —  a  creator,  on  his  own  part,  in  minia- 
ture." 1 

The  kindergartner  who  fails  to  bring  out  this 
inventive  ability  in  the  child  leaves  unfulfilled  the 
highest  promise  of  the  system.  People  are  some- 
times skeptical  about  its  existence  in  such  tiny 
pupils,  and  doubt  their  ability  to  produce  original 

1  Reminiscences  of  Froebel,  page  238. 


84  LINEAR  DRAWING 

symmetrical  forms  and  designs.  They  almost  in- 
variably say  that,  at  all  events,  if  these  appear,  it 
must  be  due  to  individual  talent  and  not  to  the 
Troebel  system.  But  we  know  the  perfection  of 
every  detail  in  that  system,  how  the  child  is  acted 
upon,  and  how  he  responds  to  the  surrounding 
influences.  He  understands  perfectly,  though  un- 
wittingly, Froebel's  law  of  the  connection  of  oppo- 
sites,  and  without  any  learning  of  dead  rules  or 
philosophic  abstractions  he  goes  straight  to  the 
mark  and  creates  his  form,  whatever  it  may  be. 
To  an  outsider  the  inventive  power  of  the  chil- 
dren appears  more  curious  and  wonderful  than  it 
really  is,  for  none  but  the  initiated  realize  the 
effect  of  the  daily  training  on  the  child ;  the 
great  perfection  of  observation  which  is  culti- 
vated, the  clear  impressions  received,  the  strict 
discipline  of  mind,  and  above  all,  the  atmosphere 
of  harmony  and  beauty  surrounding  him,  which 
develops  all  that  is  aesthetic  within  him  and  makes 
him  an  embryo  artist,  without  special  effort  on 
his  part.  And  why  should  he  not  be  so?  The 
kindergartner  is,  or  should  be,  an  artist  herself, 
in  the  large  meaning  of  the  word,  and  she  is  the 
child's  daily  companion  and  example.  His  play 
is  replete  with  grace,  poetry,  and  harmony,  his 
hourly  occupations  are  bright  with  color,  and  full 
of  symmetry,  precision,  and  dainty  neatness.  All 
his  possibilities  are  expanding  in  an  atmosphere 
of  love,  joy,  sympathy,  human  affection,  and  com- 


LINEAR  DRAWING  85 

panionship  ;  in  the  society  of  dozens  of  small 
beings,  for  the  most  part  trying  to  be  generous, 
kind,  and  lovely  ;  literally,  all  the  arts  wait  upon 
him,  why  should  he  not  be  or  grow  artistic?  Is 
there  not  a  grave  fault  somewhere,  if  he  appears 
to  have  no  love  for  the  beautiful  or  power  of  pro- 
ducing it,  after  he  has  been  acted  upon  by  his 
surroundings  for  a  sufficiently  long  time?  Our 
general  system  of  public  instruction  too  often  suc- 
ceeds in  well-nigh  destroying  the  creative  power 
in  children,  and  all  but  "  overwhelming  and  im- 
perious genius  "  is  crushed  beneath  its  relentless 
methods,  so  that  Art,  instead  of  becoming  the 
ideal  of  the  whole  race,  unveils  herself  only  to 
the  eyes  of  a  few. 

And  no  art  is  merely  ornamental ;  it  is  also  use- 
ful. It  has  been  said  by  experienced  Manual 
and  practical  men  that  in  nine  trades  Jh^Slr- 
out  of  ten  a  boy  who  can  draw  well  has  ^*^*®°' 
a  vast  advantage  over  one  who  cannot.  The  sub- 
ject of  manual  training  in  education  is  now  en- 
grossing so  much  attention  that  people  cannot 
fail  to  see  how  admirably  it  is  begun  in  the  kin- 
dergarten. 

The  training  must,  of  course,  be  entirely  of  a 
preparatory  nature  with  us,  indeed  it  may  be 
questioned  whether,  in  any  case,  a  child  could 
master  a  trade  during  his  school  life,  or  whether 
it  is  best  that  he  should  do  so  ;  but  what  we  de- 
sire is  the  training  of  the  eye  and  hand  in  design 


86  LINEAR  DRAWING 

and  the  principles  of  construction,  so  that  when 
our  children  come  to  the  work  of  life  they  will 
not  be  entirely  unprepared.  As  the  director  ^ 
of  the  Public  Industrial  Art  School  of  Philadel- 
phia has  wisely  said,  "  Kegard  for  the  individual- 
ity of  the  pupil  is  the  thing  to  be  constantly  kept 
in  view ;  to  give  additional  power  and  facility  to 
his  hand,  arm,  eye,  and  brain.  Give  him  the 
power  to  think  and  create  anew,  see  that  his  eye 
is  trained,  his  hand  made  dexterous,  and  his  brain 
quickened,  and  you  may  trust  him  to  learn  with 
ease  the  art  of  handling  machines  or  instruments 
of  precision.  He  will  handle  and  use  them  the 
better  that  his  whole  organization  has  been 
trained.  Michael  Angelo  said,  '  Man  must  carry 
his  measuring  tools  in  his  eye,  not  in  his  hand.'  " 

That  teaching  children  how  to  use  their  hands 
would  be  allied  to  developing  quickness  of  per- 
ception and  cleverness  in  general,  great  writers 
and  thinkers  long  ago  held  to  be  true,  and  it  is 
now  being  successfully  demonstrated.  Charles  G. 
Leland  alludes  to  this  in  an  article  on  "Hand- 
Work  in  Public  Schools,"  and  goes  on  to  predict 
that  the  education  of  the  future  will  embrace 
hand-work  at  every  stage,  from  the  kindergarten 
upward.  It  will  be  artistic  at  first,  because  art  is 
easy,  but  gradually  it  will  ripen  into  the  practi- 
cal or  technological. 

If  our  youth  were  all  familiarized  with  work  in 
1  J.  Liberty  Tadd. 


LINE  AM  BB  AWING  87 

school,  if  it  had  been  associated  in  their  minds 
with  art  and  design,  it  is  certain  that  all  preju- 
dice against  it  as  work  would  disappear  and  our 
American  children  would  have  less  antipathy  to 
hand-labor. 

We  must  remember,  however,  in  conclusion, 
that  whatever  the  technical  value  of  drawing  or 
its  usefulness  as  an  accomplishment,  its  highest 
value,  as  Dr.  Hailmann  says,  "  lies  in  the  respect- 
ful, loving  nurture  and  development  which  it  gives 
to  the  art-impulse  of  the  learner." 

Drawing  as  Education.  Its  Pkactical  Valub  proved 
IN  German  Schools  and  Factories.  —  The  United  States 
consul  at  Chemnitz  has  been  much  impressed  with  the  impor- 
tant place  which  drawing  holds  in  the  schools  of  Germany,  and 
has  summarized  the  results  of  his  observations  in  a  report  which 
had  just  been  published  by  the  State  Department. 

"  I  never  knew  the  value  of  drawing,"  he  writes,  *'  till  I  came 
to  Germany.  At  Mannheim  its  meaning  as  an  essential  part 
of  a  German  education  had  just  begun  to  dawn  on  me.  I  saw 
its  importance  to  the  jewelry  trade  at  Pforzheim.  The  more  I 
studied  the  question  of  German  education,  especially  technical 
education,  the  more  drawing  I  found.  It  is  the  beg^ning  and 
end  of  all  technical  education. 

"  A  good  knowledge  of  drawing  makes  a  boy  more  useful  to 
his  employer  than  any  other  branch.  It  is  believed  here  that 
to  be  able  to  make  or  build  anything,  one  must  be  able  first  to 
draw  it.  Then,  again,  a  drawing  mechanic  can  carry  home  exact 
ideas  of  things  seen.  It  is  the  custo^i  not  only  in  Chemnitz,  but 
in  every  city  I  have  visited  on  the  Continent,  and  more  especially 
in  Germany,  to  send  out  trained  draughtsmen  to  expositions  and 
fairs  for  the  purpose  of  copying  designs,  new  machines,  etc. 
How  well  they  have  done  their  work  is  seen  in  the  manufac- 
tures of  Aix  la  Chapelle,  Crefeld,  Plauen,  Leipsic,  Chemnitz, 
Frankfort,  and  Berlin. 


88  LINEAR  DRAWING 

"  The  importance  of  this  study  may  be  seen  in  the  many  hours 
devoted  to  it  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  university.  No  other 
study  in  technical  schools  gets  so  many  hours  or  more  careful 
instruction.  In  day  schools,  evening  schools,  and  Sunday  schools, 
it  is  the  same  thing  —  drawing  !  drawing !  drawing !  It  is  an 
aid  rather  than  an  injury  to  the  memory.  It  trains  the  mind  as 
well  as  the  eye.  It  is  as  great  an  aid  to  the  reasoning  powers 
as  is  logic  or  mathematics.  It  is  the  very  essence  of  both.  One 
is  always  dealing  with  relations,  making  comparisons,  seeking 
exactness.  Besides,  a  sense  of  the  harmonious  and  beautiful  is 
developed. 

"  What  I  want  to  point  out  is  its  practical  value.  The  agents 
of  houses  in  the  United  States  who  haunted  the  halls  of  sale  in 
Roubaix,  Lyons,  and  Troyes  ten  or  twenty  years  ago,  now  come 
to  Chemnitz,  Plauen,  Crefeld,  Gera,  and  Glauchau.  It  was  for- 
merly four  weeks  in  Lyons  or  Troyes,  and  one  or  two  days  at 
Chemnitz,  Crefeld,  or  Plauen.  Now  it  is  four  weeks  here,  and 
days  in  the  French  textile  centres.  I  do  not  say  that  this  remark- 
able change  is  entirely  due  to  drawing  and  designing,  but  I  do 
claim  that  a  very  large  part  of  it  is.  Nor  am  I  alone  in  my 
belief  that  drawing  may  be  an  excellent  substitute  for  logic  and 
mathematics,  for  I  found,  after  I  had  begun  this  report,  books 
published  in  Germany  containing  the  same  ideas. 

"  The  best  auxiliaries  to  the  imagination  or  fancy  are  the  dif- 
ferent styles  of  drawing.  One  author  claims  it  as  the  best  aid 
to  technical  skill  for  training  the  eyes,  the  best  help  to  an  appre- 
ciation of  objective  and  perspective  forms,  and  the  appreciation 
of  light  and  shadow.  It  is  also  regarded  as  a  great  aid  to  the 
understanding,  —  to  mental  measuring.  .  .  . 

"  I  always  find  technical  teachers  enthusiastic  over  the  subject. 
I  know  what  opinions  manufacturers  hold  in  regard  to  it ;  I  know 
how  eagerly  the  creations  of  French  fancy  (fantasie)  and  imagi- 
nation are  copied  here  and  made  cheaper  than  in  France  and  sold 
all  over  the  world.  By  and  by,  with  a  wider  development  of 
this  art,  Germany  will  not  need  to  go  to  France  for  ideas.  With 
the  power  to  put  down  on  paper  the  myriad  forms  found  in  the 
forests  and  fields,  to  make  combinations,  to  depict  things  seen  by 
the  mind's  eye,  will  come  novelties  and  perfect  independence." 


k  HANDFUL  OF  SIMILES    ON    DICTATION 
VERSUS   INVENTION 

Dictation  is  the  science ;  invention  the  art  of 
applying  the  science. 

Dictation  furnishes  the  means ;  invention  is  the 
end. 

Dictation  is  one  of  those  unobtrusive  agents 
which  lie  out  of  sight,  as  the  root  does  in  the 
ground ;  invention  is  the  blossom.  The  fruit  is 
the  conscious  use  of  power  in  after  years. 

Dictation  is  the  moving  cause ;  invention  the 
effect. 

Dictation  is  the  text-book ;  invention  works 
through  the  book,  but  clothes  each  word  with  new 
meaning.  It  uses  the  book  merely  for  a  text,  and 
the  sermon  should  illuminate  the  text,  and  lift  it 
into  a  higher  significance. 

Dictation  is  the  ladder  on  which  to  climb ; 
invention  the  blue  sky  beyond. 

Dictation  is  the  eggshell,  the  thing  visible ;  in- 
vention the  living  thing  that  issues  therefrom,  — 
the  life-principle. 

Dictation  furnishes  an  inward  guide,  a  govern- 
ing law ;  invention  lifts  it  up  and  changes  it  into 
something  higher  than  law.     If  there  is  too  much 


90  A  HANDFUL  OF  SIMILES 

law,  the  higher  powers  are  too  fully  employed  in 
obeying  it,  —  creation  languishes. 

If  an  eggshell  were  too  thick,  the  principle  of 
life,  for  the  protection  of  which  it  alone  existed, 
would  be  stifled. 

Dictation  is  the  letter;  invention  the  spirit. 
It  is  the  letter  which  is  in  danger  of  killing,  but 
the  spirit  giveth  life. 

All  great  achievements  are  the  result  of  pre- 
liminary discipline  of  mind,  heart,  or  body,  ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  genius,  which  is  amenable  to 
no  laws,  and  works  according  to  no  fixed  theories ; 
that  sort  of  creative  genius  is  higher  than  law, 
and  can  afford  to  do  without  it. 


OBJECTIONS  TO  LINEAR  DRAWING 

Herbert  Spencer,  in  discussing  erroneousr 
methods  in  drawing,^  says  that  if  teachers  were 
guided  by  nature's  hints  in  making  the  art  a  part 
of  education,  they  would  first  lead  the  child  to  rep- 
resent things  that  are  large,  that  are  attractive  in 
color,  and  around  which  pleasurable  associations 
most  cluster.  He  wholly  disapproves  of  the  for- 
mal discipline  in  making  straight  lines,  and  curved 
lines,  and  compound  lines,  with  which  it  is  the 
fashion  of  some  teachers  to  begin,  and  likens  it  to 
a  dry  analysis  of  elements  which,  in  the  teaching 
of  language,  has  been  exploded.  Mr.  H.  Court- 
hope  Bowen,  in  his  pamphlet  on  the  "  Education 
of  Man,"  argues  on  much  the  same  lines,  saying, 
in  particular,  that  Froebel  seems  to  be  premature 
in  his  insistence  on  the  use  of  elements.  He 
readily  allows  the  inventiveness  exercised  by  his 
plan,  and  thinks  the  checker-work  fuU  of  useful 
suggestions,  but  holds  that  the  inventiveness  is 
far  too  little  free,  and  very  liable  to  resolve  itself 
into  what  is  merely  mechanical.  "  Checker- work," 
he  adds,  "  also  affords  but  little  help  in  exercising 
expression,  for  that  to  which  it  gives  outward 

^  Education,  pages  140-147. 


92         OBJECTIONS   TO  LINEAB  DRAWING 

visible  shape  corresponds  but  in  a  very  limited 
way  to  what  is  in  the  child's  mind.  It  rather 
suggests  new  things  to  the  child  than  expresses 
thoughts  already  his." 

The  Committee  on  Kindergarten,  and  on  Form 
Study  and  Drawing,  presented  a  report  to  the 
New  York  Conference  of  Educational  Workers, 
as  long  ago  as  October,  1889,  in  which  the  net- 
work drawing  was  criticised  as  follows :  — 

"  Drawing  should  be  a  means  of  thought  ex- 
pression. The  old  network  system  of  drawing 
on  checkered  paper  should  be  discarded.  It  is 
wrong  in  principle,  it  cramps  execution,  prevents 
consideration  of  the  drawing  as  a  whole,  debars 
the  child  from  the  free  expression  of  thought, 
and  is  at  variance  with  all  other  work  of  the 
modern  kindergarten." 

For  those  who  still  believe  in  linear  drawing. 
Answers  to  howcvcr,  there  is  a  little  hope,  in  spite 
thSe  Ob-  of  the  above  criticisms,  and  a  few  cham- 
jectiona.  pjons  yet  remain  to  lead  them  against 
the  foe.  Dr.  E.  Seguin,  although  he  criticises  the 
"  bi-lateral  plan,"  and  the  "  too  symmetrical  exer- 
cises "  of  kindergarten  drawing,  defends  as  fol- 
lows the  use  of  the  network  or  the  dot :  — 

"  From  the  standpoint  of  the  principles,  there 
is  only  one  true  drawing,  that  is  from  nature,  in- 
stead of  from  others'  drawings ;  and  two  methods : 
(a)  one  which  leaves  the  field  —  or  plan  to  draw 
upon  —  a    blank    upon   which    the    imagination 


OBJECTIONS   TO  LINEAR  DRAWING        93 

images,  and  the  hand  traces  the  image ;  (6)  the 
second  method  covers  the  plan  with  lines  ©r 
points  of  reference,  which  serve  as  guides  to  the 
eye  and  hand.  Froebel  adopted  this  latter  course, 
likely  the  easier  for  infants,  whose  hand,  alert  at 
automatism,  is  irresolute  under  the  dictates  of  a 
yet  confused  imagination."  ^ 

Professor  T.  G.  Rooper,  in  his  study  in  prac- 
tical psychology,  called  "Drawing  in  Primary 
Schools,"  defends  kindergarten  drawing  very 
warmly,  and  some  of  his  remarks  will  be  given 
in  full,  as  his  opinion,  as  coming  quite  from  the 
outside,  must  at  least  be  impartial.  He  says: 
"  Kindergarten  drawing  on  square-ruled  paper  is, 
to  begin  with,  a  happy  and  an  absorbing  occupa- 
tion ;  were  it  no  more,  it  would  be  valuable  for 
this  alone.  But  it  is  much  more.  Children  can 
early  learn  from  it  what  is  the  use  and  meaning 
of  symmetry,  and  this  without  technical  language. 
.  .  .  The  point  to  remember  is,  that  Froebel  was 
much  interested  in  crystallography  and  its  con- 
nection with  geometrical  forms.  All  kindergar- 
ten drawing  which  is  not  founded  on  geometrical 
forms  is  debased,  and  not  according  to  the  idea 
of  the  founder.  Symmetry  is  not  the  same  thing 
as  proportion,  but  is  of  even  greater  practical 
value  in  every-day  life.  ...  It  is  my  belief  that 
it  is  of  great  consequence  to  establish  early  in  the 
mind  of  a  child  conceptions  of  symmetry,  such  as, 

^  Seguin's  Education^  page  169. 


94        OBJECTIONS   TO  LINEAR  DRAWING 

I  think,  drawing  on  square-ruled  paper  leads  to. 
.  .  .  We  have  seen  how  large  a  share  the  mind 
has  in  combining  the  impressions  which  it  re- 
ceives from  the  outside,  and  we  can  understand 
how  important  are  the  early  images  which  a  child 
learns  to  construct  for  itself  in  interpreting  im- 
pressions. Geometrical  patterns,  both  in  curved 
and  straight  lines,  seem  to  me  the  best  foundation 
for  this  all-important  sense  of  symmetry."  Pro- 
fessor Rooper  also  defends  the  drawing  of  curves 
on  square-ruled  paper,  as  the  natural  form  is 
based  upon  the  geometrical  one,  and  the  regular 
curves  may  be  used  as  an  introduction  to  the 
artistic  curves  of  growing  and  living  forms,  such 
as  the  branches  of  trees,  the  veins  of  leaves,  or 
the  shape  of  fruit. 

There  is  another  serious  question,  however,  to 
Evil  Effects  be  considered  in  using  the  network  in 
Work."  drawing,  and  that  is  the  evil  physio- 
logical and  psychological  effects  of  too  fine  work. 
The  size  of  the  squares  has  gradually  increased 
on  kindergarten  paper  until  now  one  never  sees 
the  checkering  of  one  sixth  and  even  one  eighth 
of  an  inch,  upon  which  linear  drawing  was  some- 
times executed  a  dozen  years  ago.  The  squares 
now  used  are  commonly  one  fourth  of  an  inch 
in  size,  but  those  kindergartners  who  continue  to 
use  the  network  would  probably  be  much  more 
nearly  right,  and  certainly  far  safer,  if  they  in- 
creased the  scale  to  a  haK  or  three  quarters  of  an 


OBJECTIONS   TO  LINEAR  DRAWING        95 

inch.  If  even  this  is  found  to  produce  evil  effects, 
then  it  is  obvious  that  this  method  of  drawing 
must  be  promptly  dislodged  from  its  place  in  the 
kindergarten,  for  no  intelligent  follower  of  Froe- 
bel  would  for  a  moment  retain  an  occupation 
which  its  designer  would  have  been  the  first  to 
discard,  had  he  held  the  objections  against  it  to 
be  cogent. 

This  brings  us  back  to  the  question,  already 
several  times  discussed,  of  the  fundamental  versus 
the  accessory  muscles,  and  the  danger  of  over- 
training the  latter  by  too  fine  work  at  the  expense 
of  power  in  later  years.  If  all  the  principles  on 
which  the  question  rests  are  correctly  stated,  then 
it  is  evident  that  we  should  not  expect  accuracy 
at  first  from  little  children,  but  be  satisfied  with 
crudity  and  get  accuracy  afterwards,  or  in  other 
words  that  beauty  must  not  first  be  considered, 
but  power. 

Professor  John  Dewey  has  lately  written  a 
letter  to  a  prominent  kindergartner  regarding 
the  fine  work,  which  is  of  application  J'^«"^' 
here  and  is  worthy  of  quotation,  because  objections. 
of  the  eminence  of  the  author  and  the  value  of 
his  opinion  as  an  expert.  Professor  Dewey  says : 
"I  do  not  have  any  practical  data  at  hand  re- 
garding *  fine  work  ; '  theoretically,  there  is  no 
doubt  in  my  mind  of  its  inadequacy  and  per- 
verseness.  1  think  physicians  would  be  of  one 
^nind  as  to  its  bad  effects  upon  the  optic  nerve 


96        OBJECTIONS   TO  LINEAR  DRAWING 

and  the  motor  nerves  of  hand  and  eye,  leading 
to  some  strain  in  eye,  and  tendency  to  chorea 
(if  in  subtle  form)  in  muscular  system. 

"  The  evil  psychological  effect  is  just  as  certain 
if  not  quite  so  obvious, —  it  tends  to  Jix,  to  arrest 
imagery,  and  thus  produce  that  cramping  effect 
which  you  speak  of  having  noticed.  In  holding 
attention  to  minute  work,  there  is  certainly  a 
habit  formed  which  thwarts  attention  of  the  free, 
easy  flow  it  might  otherwise  attain.  The  large 
flow  of  imagery  is  balked  in  being  held  down  so 
minutely  and  narrowly.  Free  coarse  work  grad- 
ually refining  itself,  seems  to  me  the  law.  .  .  . 
This  fine  work,  it  seems  to  me,  calls  attention 
to  technique  before  the  idea  is  formed,  therefore 
disturbing  and  hindering  the  growth  of  the  idea. 
First  the  crude  idea,  then  the  technique  in  order 
to  perfect  the  idea,  seems  to  me  the  law." 

The  only  objection  to  be  made  to  this  opinion, 

so  far  as  we  see,  at  least,  is  that  it  is 

dren  in-        questionable  whether  children  naturally 

Btinctively        •       -,• 

make  petty     mcline   to  larsfc  movements   and  lar2:e 

Figures?  .  .        ,  . 

designs  m  drawing,  or  whether,  on  the 
contrary,  they  do  not  instinctively  make  petty 
figures.  ''  Just  so  in  the  infancy  of  a  race,"  as 
Charles  G.  Leland  says,  "  it  perfects  the  petti- 
ness of  illuminating  manuscripts  before  designing 
grandly."  To  begin  with  large  figures,  then,  if 
the  above  theory  be  well  founded,  would  be  to 
contradict,  in  that  respect  at  least,  the  parallel 


OBJECTIONS   TO  LINEAR  DRAWING        97 

between  the  development  of  the  child  and  the 
race ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  we  may  easily 
make  too  much  of  this  theory  and  strive  to  carry 
it  farther  than  it  should  legitimately  go. 

Practically  we  can  lay  it  down  as  a  principle, 
that  the  child  who  has  been  too  long  accustomed 
to  short  lines,  small  designs,  and  petty  figures  will 
never  be  able  to  do  the  large  free  work  which  is 
so  valuable,  so  artistic,  and  so  effective,  though 
the  reverse  of  the  principle  is  as  certainly  not 
true,  for  in  this  case,  as  in  all  others,  the  greater 
includes  the  less. 


OUTLINE  DRAWING 

"Objects  which  the  child  could  move,  which  were  in  sight, 
he  laid  on  the  board,  or  bench,  or  table,  and  drew  their  forms  on 
the  plane  surface,  following  the  boundaries  of  the  objects  with 
his  hand.  Soon  scissors  and  boxes,  but  soon,  also,  leaves  and 
twigs,  even  his  own  hand,  or  the  shadows  of  objects,  will  be 
thus  copied."  Fk.  Froebel. 

"  The  Encyclopedia  Britannica  says  the  children,  when  left  to 
themselves,  draw  in  outline,  and  we  know  that  the  early  races 
did  so.  The  Egyptians  and  the  ancient  Romans  used  words 
which  expressed  the  conception  that  drawing  was  done  in  line. 
The  historical  development  of  drawing  may  always  be  seen  in 
the  practice  of  children  when  left  to  draw  for  their  own  amuse- 
ment. They  begin  as  the  human  race  began,  with  firm  outlines 
representing  men  and  animals,  usually  in  profile.  The  next 
thing  they  do,  if  left  to  their  own  instincts,  is  to  fill  up  the 
spaces  so  marked  out  with  colors,  the  brightest  they  can  get. 
This  is  genuine  primitive  art." 

Materials  for  Outline  Drawing :  Simple  forms  of  animals, 
fruits,  flowers,  geometrical  plane  figures,  etc.,  cut  from  heavy 
colored  cardboard  ;  black  and  colored  pencils  ;  unruled  paper  or 


Theke  is  perhaps  no  art  which,  like  drawing, 
is  at  the  same  time  so  purely  aesthetic 
tSi^^ue  and  so  thoroughly  practical.  It  rewards 
of  Drawing.  -^^  dcvotec  witli  cqual  beneficence,  be 
he  artist  or  artisan.  It  is  of  as  much  service 
to  the  man  who  designs  a  bookcase,  as  to  him 


OUTLINE  DRAWING  99 

who  decorates  a  palace.  And  does  not  this  very 
fact  prove  its  preeminence  as  an  art?  It  can 
descend  to  the  depths  and  rise  to  the  heights ;  it 
may  be  used,  and  with  good  effect,  both  by  the 
rudest  savage  and  by  the  man  who,  in  education, 
refinement,  and  aesthetic  taste,  is  the  very  flower 
of  our  modern  civilization.  And  it  is  well,  in  our 
practical  age,  that  an  art  which,  like  drawing,  is 
so  preeminently  useful,  should  at  the  same  time 
be  linked  of  necessity  to  all  that  is  beautiful.  It 
can  never  be  degraded  to  purely  sordid  ends,  for 
its  service  is  an  education  in  the  largest  sense  — 
used  even  in  the  rudest  way  it  contains  a  hint  of 
something  higher.  It  serves  best  him  who  loves 
it  best,  but  he  who  best  loves  it  is  he  who  takes 
infinite  pains,  who  spares  neither  time  nor  trouble 
in  perfecting  his  work.  And  there  is,  no  doubt,  a 
reflex  influence  upon  the  pupils  in  the  enthusiasm 
with  which  a  master  or  teacher  regards  his  work. 
The  influence  is  largely  unconscious,  entirely  so  in 
the  case  of  young  children,  but  it  is  none  the  less, 
or  perhaps  all  the  more,  effective. 

This  is  especially  true  in  regard  to  the  kinder- 
gartner  and  her  tiny  pupils.     If  she  be 
herself  something  of  an  artist,  that  is,  influence  of 
if  she  have  the  artistic  feeling  and  a  nempon 

,      ,      .  her  Pupils. 

correct  idea  of   symmetry  and  design, 
she  will  not  allow  the  children  under  her  charge 
to  make  awkward,  inharmonious  designs,  to  per- 
form coarse,  blurred  work,  to  draw  crooked,  wav- 


100  OUTLINE  DRAWING 

ering  lines,  and  make  thick  strokes.  If  it  be  a 
pleasure  to  her  to  handle  the  pencil,  a  real  delight 
to  draw,  if  only  a  row  of  lines,  so  long  as  they 
are  straight  and  regular,  then  her  children  will 
find  it  a  pleasure,  too,  and  there  will  be  inward 
and  outward  rejoicing  in  the  drawing  hour.  This 
love  of  drawing  is  a  special  bent  of  mind  or 
fingers,  better  developed  in  some  people  than  in 
others,  but  it  can  be  cultivated  to  a  great  extent, 
and  there  is  no  reason  why  every  kindergartner 
may  not,  with  sufficient  trouble  and  study,  and  by 
the  aid  of  the  various  methods  at  her  command, 
make  her  children  thorough  little  artists  in  the 
bud. 

Though  the  kindergarten   system  of  drawing 

does  not  profess  to  do  more  than  lay  the 

dergarten      fouudatiou  for  futurc  artistic  work,  yet 

should  ac-      if   propcrly   carried   out   in   its   varied 

complish.  . 

branches  it  should  and  does  accomplish 
certain  things. 

The  child  who  has  spent  three  years  in  the 
kindergarten  should  have  good  command  over  his 
fingers,  should  be  able  to  draw  curved  lines  as 
well  as  straight,  and  make  use  of  both  in  sym- 
metrical design ;  he  should  have  some  conception 
of  color  and  its  artistic  use,  and  have  an  idea, 
however  small,  of  freehand  drawing. 

One  common  and  well-founded  objection  made 
to  kindergarten  drawing  is  that,  as  it  is  com- 
monly used,  it  does  not  make  the  children  suf- 


OUTLINE  DRAWING  101 

ficiently  self  -  dependent.  The  network,  or  dot, 
has  been  considered  invaluable  as  a  guide  to  eye 
and  fingers.  We  hardly  thought  we  could  teach 
drawing  to  such  little  children  without  it,  and  by 
its  use  beautiful  results  were  certainly  accom- 
plished ;  but  we  must  remember  that  it  never  was 
intended  to  be  anything  but  an  aid,  and  when 
the  fingers  had  attained  some  dexterity,  it  was 
expected  that  we  should  be  able,  now  and  then, 
to  dispense  with  it.  A  child  learns  to  walk, 
clinging  to  its  mother's  hand ;  he  needs  her  aid 
and  encouragement,  but  surely  there  comes  a  time 
when  he  may  essay  a  few  trembling  steps  alone, 
when  he  may  let  go  her  hand  and  trust  to  his  own 
effort.  We  should  not  then  use  the  network  or 
the  dot  so  constantly  as  to  hinder  the  child  from 
ever  taking  a  step  alone. 

Linear  drawing,  though  it  gives  command  of 
fingers,  correctness  of  eye,  knowledge  of  straight 
and  curved  lines,  and  power  of  combination  and 
invention,  can  scarcely  be  called,  save  in  these  re- 
spects, a  preparation  for  freehand  work.  There- 
fore, we  need  another  branch  of  draw-  vaiueof 
ing  which  shall  supplement  the  linear.  Drawing. 
giving  what  it  lacks;  and  this  we  find  admira- 
bly supplied  in  outline  drawing.  This,  for  four 
reasons,  has  not  been  sufficiently  used  in  many  of 
our  kindergartens,  —  First,  it  is  comparatively 
difficult  to  provide  good  patterns;  second,  they 
are   not  at  all  durable,  being   made   of  paste- 


102  OUTLINE  DRAWING 

board ;  third,  the  work  needs  rather  more  over- 
sight for  its  proper  performance  than  does  the 
linear  drawing;  and,  fourth,  many  kindergart- 
ners  have  failed  to  appreciate  its  importance.  Its 
value,  however,  is  recognized  by  Froebel  when  he 
says:  "Much  is  developed  in  the  child  by  this 
action,  more  than  it  is  possible  to  express;  he 
gains  by  this  clear  comprehension  of  the  form, 
the  possibility  of  representing  the  form  separate 
from  the  object,  the  possibility  of  retaining  the 
form  as  such,  the  strengthening  and  fitting  of  the 
arm  and  hand  for  the  free  representation  of 
form."  1 

Outline  drawing  is  performed  by  means  of  a 
How  it  is  series  of  pasteboard  patterns,  including 
performed,  geometrical  forms,  forms  of  animal  life, 
household  furniture,  etc.,  each  pattern  being 
carefully  shaded  and  decorated  by  the  kindergart- 
ner.  The  pasteboard  model  is  laid  on  paper, 
or  the  unruled  side  of  the  kindergarten  slate, 
by  the  child,  who  holds  it  in  position  and  marks 
its  outline.  When  the  outline  has  been  drawn, 
he  should  add  the  various  finishing  touches  after 
the  model  in  his  possession,  this  work  being  ne- 
cessarily freehand.  If  it  is  a  cat,  he  must  add 
eyes,  whiskers,  marks  to  show  the  division  of  the 
feet  into  toes,  etc. ;  if  it  is  a  leaf  he  must  add  the 
stem,  the  midrib,  and  the  veins.  Every  kinder- 
garten should  possess  full  sets  of  these  patterns, 
^Education  of  Man,  page  44  (Jarvis  translation). 


OUTLINE  DRAWING  103 

carefully  graded  as  to  difficulty,  and  divided  into 
forms  of  life  and  knowledge.  The  forms  of  know- 
ledge are  easily  convertible  into  forms  of  beauty, 
thus  making  the  three  divisions  of  objects,  accord- 
ing to  Froebel.  The  forms  of  knowledge  are,  of 
course,  geometrical,  are  much  simpler  than  the 
other  patterns,  and  may  be  used  by  the  younger 
children  in  connection  with  the  less  difficult  forms 
of  life.  The  geometrical  forms  themselves  may 
and  should  be  converted  into  forms  of  life  by 
kindergartner  and  children,  thus  giving  them  a 
more  vivid  interest  to  the  baby  mind. 

The  child  will  outline  rows  upon  rows  of 
squares,  if  the  kindergartner  only  sug-  Transfomm- 
gests  with  word  or  pencil  a  tiny  lock  comWnltion 
and  a  cover,  thus  making  them  into  °^^°"^ 
pictures  of  boxes.  The  right  isosceles  triangles 
may  be  made  into  cocked  hats,  by  adding  a  plume 
of  feathers  ;  the  equilaterals  serve  for  tents,  with 
a  line  to  show  where  the  curtains  open  ;  the  pen- 
tagons may  be  turned  into  charming  little  houses, 
with  door,  window,  and  chimney  all  complete  ; 
the  circles  become  wheels,  the  octagons  clocks, 
and  so  on,  in  an  endless  and  delightful  whirligig 
where  everything  is  itself,  and  at  the  same  time 
something  else.  The  circle  is  indeed  a  veritable 
Protean  form,  and  lends  itseK  to  as  many  dis- 
guises as  the  wicked  magician  in  the  fairy  tales 
who  can  turn  himself  with  equal  ease  into  a 
smoking  volcano,  or  a  "  wee,  sleekit "  mousie.     It 


104  OUTLINE  DRAWING 

needs  but  a  magic  touch  to  transform  the  circle 
into  a  kitten,  a  Jack-o-Lantern,  a  rabbit,  a  sleep- 
ing bird,  a  globe  of  goldfish,  a  teakettle,  a  sun 
hat,  a  round-eyed  moon,  a  downy  chicken,  or  the 
head  of  an  almond-eyed  Chinese  baby. 

The  geometrical  forms  may  also,  as  has  been 
suggested,  be  used  in  producing  forms  of  beauty. 
The  child  makes  really  beautiful  inventions  by 
placing  the  pattern  in  various  positions,  and 
tracing  the  outline,  working  according  to  the 
connection  of  opposites,  and  thus  making  a  com- 
plete figure.  The  forms  of  life  are  more  diffi- 
cult and  complicated,  but  they  may  be  carefully 
graded  and  sets  kept  in  stock  for  both  older  and 
younger  pupils.  For  the  younger,  we  may  have 
eggs  of  various  sizes  and  kinds  on  which  the  spots 
are  to  be  placed,  simple  leaves  like  the  eucalyptus, 
where  the  midrib  only  is  shown ;  fruits,  vegeta- 
bles, pitchers,  cups,  teakettles,  hats,  bells,  flower- 
pots, etc. 

For  the  older  ones,  we  may  have  any  pattern, 
Varieties  of  "^*  ^^^  dclicatc  Or  difficult,  which  our 
Patterns.  j^raius  may  devise  and  our  fingers  serve 
to  work  out.  In  the  insect  world,  bees  and  but- 
terflies, beetles  and  dragon  -  flies  are  easy  of 
accomplishment ;  ducks  and  geese,  swans  and 
ostriches,  birds  resting  and  flying,  when  drawn 
on  a  moderately  large  scale,  can  be  successfully 
outlined  ;  fish  and  reptiles,  pigs  and  horses,  dogs 
and  cats,  many  kinds  of  leaves  and  the  simpler 


OUTLINE  DRAWING  105 

flowers  can  all  be  drawn,  if  the  child  has  prac- 
ticed the  simpler  models  well,  and  been  trained  to 
be  exact  in  his  work  and  careful  of  his  pattern. 
If  he  has  been  allowed  to  drop  his  simple  model 
on  the  floor  without  rebuke,  to  convey  it  to  his 
mouth  in  temporary  abstraction,  or  use  it  as  a 
weapon  against  his  neighbors,  you  may  be  sure 
he  will  do  the  same  with  the  animal  or  the  leaf 
it  has  taken  you  half  an  hour  to  prepare  for  him. 
So  at  the  very  first  lesson  we  should  insist  upon 
great  care  in  the  use  of  these  patterns,  since  with 
the  best  of  treatment  they  do  not  long  remain  in 
good  condition. 

When  the  child  is  sufficiently  advanced  and 
has  drawn  the  outline  of  the  pattern  a  connection 
number  of  times,  he  should  lay  it  one  Jaudih^. 
side  and  try  to  sketch  it,  his  eye  being  '°*^' 
the  only  guide  ;  while  later  on,  he  should  try  to 
draw  it  from  memory.  This  is  an  important  step 
toward  freehand  drawing,  and  is  really  not  so 
difficult  for  the  child  as  might  at  first  appear. 
There  is  great  danger  in  giving  indiscriminate 
praise  in  all  this  work.  Undoubtedly  the  child 
should  be  encouraged  and  his  efforts  appreciated, 
but  there  is  no  reason  why  he  should  be  told  his 
work  is  beautiful,  when  it  bears  no  resemblance 
to  the  pattern  he  is  copying.  If  he  makes  a 
vertical  line,  as  straight  as  an  arrow,  through 
the  middle  of  a  geranium  leaf,  and  on  either  side 
draws  slanting  lines  that  look  like  nothing  but 


106  OUTLINE  DRAWING 

herring-bones,  in  what  respect  are  these  like  the 
beautiful  curving  veins  of  the  leaf  itself?  If 
we  tell  him  his  work  is  "  beautiful,"  why  should 
he  try  to  do  better  next  time  ?  Is  not  "  beauti- 
ful "  quite  well  enough  ? 

Nor  should  we  hurry  him  in  this  outline  work, 
but  rather  hold  him  back.  His  natural  desire 
apj)ears  to  be  to  get  his  paper  "  full,"  and  have 
another  pattern  as  soon  as  possible.  It  is  our 
place  to  inculcate  such  maxims  as  Haste  makes 
Waste,  Quality  not  Quantity.  It  is  not  abso- 
lutely essential  that  he  should  draw  ten  leaves  as 
quickly  and  as  carelessly  as  possible,  and  then 
exchange  his  pattern  with  his  neighbor,  but  it 
is  essential  that  he  should  draw  one  leaf  moder- 
ately well,  and  at  least  slowly  and  with  care.  We 
sometimes  content  ourselves  with  too  little  in  our 
labors  with  the  children.  They  can  do  really 
good  and  artistic  work,  and  that  without  over- 
stimulation or  pushing,  but  if  we  are  content  with 
less  than  their  best,  we  shall  always  get  just  that, 
and  nothing  more. 

It  is  the  first  steps  which  cost  in  the  kinder- 
garten. If  we  are  untiring  in  our  efforts  to  make 
the  children  neat  and  careful  during  their  first 
year  of  systematic  education,  then  neatness  and 
carefulness  will  grow  to  be  second  nature  witli 
them,  and  having  sown  the  good  seed,  we  shall 
find  it  springing  up  and  blossoming  in  a  thousand 
lovely  forms. 


OUTLINE  DRAWING  107 

In  all  this  drawing,  the  shading  and  decorating 
of  the  patterns  is  of  course  the  essential  thing,  and 
the  thing  for  which  the  occupation  exists.  The 
simple  drawing  of  the  outline  is  of  little  benefit 
to  the  older  children,  unless  accompanied  by  the 
artistic  finishing  touches,  and  to  fill  a  paper  with 
outlines,  no  one  of  which  has  received  a  single 
original  line  from  the  child,  is  to  defeat  the  very 
object  for  which  the  work  was  devised. 

If  it  is  true,  as  Colonel  Parker  says,  that  an 
ill-written  word   should   never  be  seen 

-  .  Necessity  o£ 

for  a  moment   by   pupils   leammg   to  caremmak- 

,  .      .         /  1  .  11         ingandse- 

write,  how  is  it  about  drawmo:  and  the  lecting  Pat- 

.  .         °  tems. 

models  given  to  the  child  ?  Can  we 
suppose  for  a  moment  that  a  strong  influence,  in 
the  wrong  direction,  will  not  be  made  upon  the 
child's  mind  when  he  draws  from  a  soiled,  discol- 
ored bit  of  pasteboard,  with  shading  and  decora- 
tion poorly  done  and  half  effaced  ?  We  do  not 
claim  that  the  child  will  fully  appreciate  the 
artistic  work,  the  care  and  skill  bestowed  on  a 
really  good  set  of  drawing  patterns,  but  if  there 
is  anything  at  all  in  education  by  means  of  the 
beautiful,  —  in  unconscious  example,  —  then  here 
it  may  be  felt. 

It  is  sometimes  well  in  outline  drawing  to 
teach  the  child  to  combine  the  patterns,  combination 
For  instance,  he  may  be  given  the  model  °*  ^a^^™*- 
of  a  table.  After  this  has  been  successfully  drawn, 
give  him  a  cup  or  pitcher,  perhaps,  and  let  him 


108  •  OUTLINE  DRAWING 

outline  them  in  their  position  on  the  table.  When 
he  is  given  a  leaf,  show  him  how  to  make  the 
branch,  and  let  him  draw  a  number  of  leaves  in 
various  positions,  attaching  them  to  the  branch  at 
proper  distances.  This  work  may  be  very  well 
done  with  the  natural  leaves,  when  the  children 
are  somewhat  advanced,  and  are  beginning  to 
have  an  idea  of  freehand  drawing.  They  have 
already  some  command  of  their  fingers  and  pen- 
cil, and  can  hold  the  leaf  in  position  and  trace  its 
outline  without  tearing  the  delicate  edge.  Single 
flowers  can  be  very  prettily  done.  The  single 
dahlia,  the  wild  rose,  the  marguerite,  the  sin- 
Drawing       gle  sunflower  ;  in  fact  any  flower  hav- 

and  colonng    ^  \ 

Flowers.  jng  quc  row  of  pctals  radiating  from  a 
round  or  oval  centre,  can  easily  be  drawn.  Each 
child  is  given  a  model  the  size  and  shape  of 
the  centre  of  the  flower,  and  also  a  model  of 
one  of  the  petals.  Having  drawn  the  centre,  he 
can  move  the  pattern  of  the  petals  around  in  reg- 
ular order  until  all  are  drawn,  and  can  after- 
ward add  the  stem  and  leaves  according  to  sug- 
gestion. When  the  children  can  do  the  leaf  and 
flower  work  with  comparative  ease  on  the  slates, 
they  may  use  paper  and  colored  pencils,  filling  in 
the  outline  with  the  appropriate  color.  This,  of 
course,  is  a  delightful  exercise,  and  aifords  a 
good  opportunity  for  artistic  effects  in  color. 
This  work  may  also  be  combined  with  paper 
cutting.     The  children  may  draw  the  leaves  and 


OUTLINE  DRAWING  109 

flowers  on  the  proper  colored  paper,  afterwards 
cutting  them  out  and  decorating  them  and  past- 
ing them  in  their  books  of  school  work. 

Outline  drawing  being  an  absolutely  flexible 
occupation,  there  is  no  reason  why  it 

r  '  /  Connection 

should  not  be  related,  whenever  given,  of  outline 

11  Drawing 

to  the  other  work  of  the  week,  and  thus  with  other 

Work. 

aid  in  strengthening  the  desired  impres- 
sions. Enough  patterns  can  be  fashioned  to  suit 
any  thought  which  the  kindergartner  desires  to 
express,  and  thus  the  handiwork  of  the  child  be 
only  another  note  in  a  strong  harmonious  chord, 
instead  of  the  touch  upon  a  single  string,  incom- 
plete in  itself  and  related  to  nothing  else. 

All  this  work  of  course  demands  carefulness, 
patience,  and  perseverance  on  the  part 
of  kindergartner  and  child.     As  for  the  the  work 

1  ^  ^       1     °^  Kinder- 

kmdergartner,   she  must  ever  be  shod  gartner 

.  .  and  Child. 

with  the  shoes  of  patience  and  clad  with 
the  garment  of  perseverance.  She  knows  that 
in  all  work,  in  proportion  as  the  result  is  beau- 
tiful and  artistic,  so  the  effort  used  to  produce  it 
must  have  been  long  continued.  There  is  no 
royal  road  to  learning,  nor  has  one  ever  been 
found  to  manual  dexterity.  Continued  practice 
is  necessary  until  the  hand  and  fingers  have  be- 
come trained  into  good  habits,  into  rapid,  uncon- 
scious response  to  the  dictates  of  the  mind. 

Outline  drawing  is  a  very  simple  occupation,  it 
is  true,  but  it  is  valuable  in  various  ways,  and  in 


110  OUTLINE  DRAWING 

order  that  the  child  may  gain  real  good  from  it, 
the  kindergartner  must  exercise  constant  care 
that  he  does  his  best,  and  that  the  models  she 
sets  before  him  are  well-made  and  well-chosen. 
If  she  attends  to  these  essentials,  and  if  the 
atmosphere  of  her  kindergarten  is  a  serene  and 
harmonious  one,  with  no  hurry  or  worry  or  fret- 
fulness  or  fever  about  it,  then  all  things  conspire 
together  for  the  child's  benefit,  and  in  this  as  in 
all  other  occupations  the  manual  and  mental 
results  obtained  will  be  really  beautiful  and  sat- 
isfying. 


CIRCULAR  DRAWING 

"But  soon  these  lines  become,  for  the  child  that  is  led  to 
observe  nature  and  surrounding  things,  a  means  of  further  rep- 
resentation. So  the  circle  that  he  can  draw  fairly,  now  becomes 
for  him  the  picture  of  the  moon,  the  sun,  a  disk  even  of  an 
apple,  a  ball,  a  hoop,  a  ring,  etc.  He  has  seen  in  meadows,  in 
the  garden  and  field,  the  three-leaved  clover  with  its  roundly 
single  leaves,  and  the  five-leaved  flowers  of  the  most  different 
kinds  with  their  circular  corolla,  and  represents  them  easily 
with  winding  curved  lines,  and,  still  further,  radiating  flowers 
and  the  numerous  feathered  leaves,  that  are  sometimes  quite 
circular ;  as,  for  example,  the  beautiful  feathered  leaves  of  the 
matterdom  (a  sort  of  field  rose),  of  the  acacia,  etc.,  or,  further, 
beautifully  paired  stem-leaves ;  as,  for  example,  in  the  sunny 
blooming  pfennig-kraut.  But  the  child's  impidse  to  represent 
by  drawing  ventures  also  near  the  living ;  he  tries  to  represent 
the  rabbit,  with  its  rounding  forms,  the  little  mouse,  sheep, 
dove,  etc."  Fb.  Fboebel. 

Materials  for  Circular  Drawing :  Wooden  disks  three  inches, 
two  inches,  one  inch  in  diameter ;  drawing  paper ;  lead  pencils 
and  colored  crayons.^ 

The  passage  from  Froebel  given  at  the  head  of 
this  chapter  sufficiently  shows  his  opin-  jYoebei  an 
ion  in  regard  to  the  importance  of  the  circSJ*  °* 
curve   in   drawing.     In  a  letter  to  one  ^'■*'^'"k- 
of  his  pupils,  written  in  1852,  he  says,  concerning 

^  The  Cont^  crayons  give,  in  our  opinion,  the  greatest  variety 
in  color  and  the  best  results,  though  those  made  by  Faber  are 
also  good,  and  Dixon's  red  pencil  is  very  useful. 


112  CIRCULAR  DRAWING 

the  subject  of  drawing:  "Little  of  this  can  be 
done  in  the  kindergarten,  because  the  fingers  are 
still  too  weak.  Stick-laying  takes  the  place  of 
drawing,  and  the  making  of  circles  with  the  slate 
pencil,  of  which  the  children  are  so  fond;  and 
this  can  be  carried  to  the  representation  of  simple 
forms  of  leaves  and  flowers."  In  another  place 
he  shows  quite  elaborately  how  the  child,  through 
the  sketching  of  all  kinds  of  curvilinear  repre- 
sentations in  the  sand  or  dust,  or  on  a  window- 
pane  covered  with  a  film  of  moisture,  at  last 
reaches  drawing,  as  such,  of  lines,  and,  he  adds 
distinctly,  "  of  the  curved  line  first  and  after- 
wards of  the  straight  line^  ^ 

Miss  Marwedel's  system   of  circular  drawing 

was  described  by  her  under  the  name  of 

wedei  sys-     "  Childhood's  Poctry  and  Studies  in  the 

Circular        Life,  Form,  and  Colors  of  Nature,"  — 

Drawing. 

the  whole  scheme,  however,  embracing 
exercises  with  the  first  and  second  gifts,  circular 
sewing,  and  plays  with  the  ellipsoids  and  with  the 
colored  wooden  rings,  which  she  termed  "  Baby's 
Ringolettes."  It  is  based  upon  the  strength  of 
her  feeling  that  the  simplest  forms  of  nature 
which  surround  the  child  are  earliest  compre- 
hended by  him,  and  first  awaken  the  wish  of 
imitation.  "Education  must  avail  itself  of  this 
fact,"  she  said,  "  not  with  the  heaping  together  of 
externally  given  words  —  stifling  all   individual 

^  W.  N.  Hailmann,  The  Kindergarten  Messenger^  October,  1882. 


CIRCULAR  DRAWING  113 

conception  —  but  by  activity,  which  leads  to  true 
knowledge."  This  is,  of  course,  the  purest  kin- 
dergarten doctrine,  and  the  whole  system  seems 
to  follow  out  quite  perfectly  Froebel's  suggestions 
in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  curve. 

In  a  little  pamphlet  entitled,  "  A  System  of 
Child  Culture,"  Miss  Marwedel  thus  describes 
her  circular  drawing,  and  we  give  the  descrip- 
tion in  full,  as  the  original  is  now  difficult  to  ob- 
tain :  — 

I.  The  Sphere  Divided.  Into  halves,  quarters,  seg- 
ments, hollow,  concentric  hemispheres,  and  the  ovoid 
in  the  sphere.  This  brings  before  the  eye  of  the  child 
a  series  of  geometrical  bases  of  plant-forms,  such  as 
the  calyx,  the  open  flower,  blossom,  and  leaves,  while 
the  circle  may  serve  to  convey  a  picture  of  the  inner 
structure  of  trees  and  branches.  The  parts  are  to  be 
copied  in  clay,  in  cement,  or  by  drawing  and  shading 
from  the  models. 

II.  Methodical  Making  and  Application  of  the 
Circle.  Use  forms  giving  views  of  the  circle,  as  bot- 
tles, lids,  rings  of  different  sizes.  In  making  the  circles 
the  child  may  at  first  use  compasses,  and  later  eye- 
measurements. 

(1)  Finding  the  centre  of  the  paper. 

(2)  Making  the  centre  with  a  dot. 

(3)  Placing  a  ring  or  circular  form  on  the  paper, 
centre  to  centre. 

(4)  Tracing  the  circular  form  with  pencil  —  to  be 
done  with  the  left  hand  as  well  as  the  right.  All  these 
exercises  to  be  executed  at  first  on  the  blackboard,  then 


114  CIRCULAB  DRAWING 

on  paper  with  black,  and  finally  with  colored  pencil  on 
drawing  paper. 

Series  A. 

Forms  of  Knowledge. 
Making  the  circle  and  filling  it  with  lines,  drawn 
either  from  the  circumference  to  the  centre,  or  the  re- 
verse.    Use  of  both  hands.     This   exercise  develops 
the  much  needed  flexibility  of  the  wrist. 

Making  the  circle  in  three  sizes  for  comparison. 
Applying  the  three  primary  colors. 
Inventions. 

Series  B. 

Forms  of  Knowledge. 
Comparison  between  exercises  1  and  2  in  Series  A. 
Making  concentric  circles. 
Applying  the  three  secondary  colors. 
Inventions. 

Series  C. 

Forms  of  Knowledge. 

Comparison  of  exercise  2  (Series  B)  with  exercises 
1  and  2  (Series  A). 

Making  the  circle,  divided  from  the  centre  by  eye 
measure. 

Applying  the  three  tertiary  colors. 

Inventions. 

Series  D. 

Individual  and  cooperative  inventions,  using  colored 
circles,  half-circles,  etc. 

Series  E. 
Four  Charts  on  the  Origin  of  Secondary  and  Teiv 
tiary  Colors. 


CIRCULAR  DRAWING  115 

Series  F. 

Four  Charts  on  Shades,  Blendings,  Analysis,  and 
Synthesis  of  Color. 

All  the  foregoing  exercises  lead  from  the  under- 
standing of  the  circle  to  simple  conceptions  of  similar- 
ity and  dissimilarity  in  botanical  forms.  The  forms 
are  based  on  the  circle,  and  lead  gradually  through 
fruits  and  flowers  to  leaves  and  roots.^ 

The  circular  drawing  is  closely  connected  with 
the  study  of  the  ball  and  sphere,  the  school  of 
child  by  the  division  of  these  being  led  Drawi^. 
to  find  the  ring  or  curved  line.  He  impresses 
rings,  saucers,  tins,  bottles,  and  box-covers  of  dif- 
ferent sizes  in  the  sand,  and  also  handles  and 
draws  them,  and  thus  by  his  study  of  the  round 
playthings,  as  Froebel  says,  "  gains  a  clear  and 
distinct  perception  and  representation  of  the  cur- 
vilinear form." 

After  the  making  of  circles  in  the  sand,  they 
are  practiced  on  the  blackboard  with  the  right  and 
left  hands  alternately,  no  particular  size  being 
prescribed,  but  every  effort  made  from  the  be- 
ginning to  get  the  desired  easy  movement  of  the 
wrist,  and  the  circular  sweep  of  the  chalk.  Then 
the  children  graduate  to  slate  and  pencil  (if  de- 
sired) or  directly  to  pencil  and  paper,  using  now 
the  wooden  patterns  or  disks,  and  finally  take  up 
the  work  with  colored  crayons. 

1  Series  E  and  F  (eight  Color  Charts)  and  four  Form  Charts 
(sphere,  cube,  cylinder,  and  sphere  divided)  may  be  had  of  D. 
C.  Heath  &  Co. 


116  CIRCULAB  DRAWING 

Much  practice  is  required  before  the  little  child 
can  hold  even  the  three-inch  wooden  disk  firmly 
in  place,  trace  its  outline,  and  then  fill  it  into  a 
circle,  working  from  circumference  to  centre,  with 
round  and  round  movements  of  the  pencil.  The 
two-inch  disk  is  next  to  be  conquered,  then  the 
one-inch,  using  successively  the  red,  yellow,  and 
blue  crayons,  and  lastly  the  three  sizes  drawn 
together  for  comparison,  first  in  vertical  then  in 
horizontal  lines,  touching  each  other.  Now  sim- 
ple inventions  in  the  three  sizes  and  colors  are 
attempted,  and  then  comparison  made  between 
the  three  circles  arranged  concentrically,  —  the 
colors  of  orange,  green,  and  purple  now  being 
introduced.  Miss  Marwedel  considers  these,  on 
the  Newton  and  Brewster  theory,  as  the  second- 
ary colors,  and  provides  for  a  series  of  exercises 
with  overlapping  circles,  which  show  that  a  coat- 
ing of  the  red  crayon  laid  over  the  yellow  will 
produce  a  more  or  less  recognizable  orange. 

Now  the  broken  ring  or  half-circle  which  gives 
the  first  idea  of  the  end  (or  bud)  comes  into  use, 
and  the  inventions  grow  much  more  elaborate,  as 
it  is  possible  to  use  three  sizes  of  circles,  three 
of  half -circles,  and  the  six  colors.  The  next  se- 
ries of  exercises  takes  up  the  regular  separation  of 
the  circle  into  halves,  thirds,  fourths,  fifths,  and 
sixths,  the  six  colors  being  used  in  succession, 
and  the  orderly  fractional  divisions  being  in- 
tended to  prepare  for  a  corresponding  division 


CIRCULAR  DRAWING  117 

in  the  petals  of  flowers.  The  three  tertiary  col- 
ors, citrine,  russet,  and  olive,  are  now  applied  in 
a  series  of  exercises  ;  ^  and  inventions,  both  indi- 
vidual and  cooperative,  are  provided  for. 

All  this  work  in  colors  upon  complete  curves, 
broken  curves,  circles  and  half -circles,  is  Natural 
preparatory,  as  Miss  Marwedel  said,  to  ^^^^^ 
a  study  of  the  life,  form,  and  colors  of  Nature. 
We  now  enter  upon  nature  work,  taking  up  first 
the  fruits  as  being  attractive  in  appearance,  plea- 
santly known  to  all  children,  and  most  closely 
connected  with  the  ball.  First  the  sphere  must 
be  studied,  however,  and  drawn  from  the  object 
itself,  and  as  this  is  the  first  time  that  atten- 
tion has  been  directed  to  light  and  shade,  some 
patience  wiU  be  required  as  well  as  considera- 
ble practice  before  the  fundamental  principles 
of  shading  are  discovered,  and  the  children  have 
learned  how  they  may  turn  a  flat  disk  into  a  veri- 
table ball  with  softly  rounded  sides.  The  time 
and  pains  spent  here,  however,  are  fitly  bestowed, 
for  all  the  beauty  and  value  of  the  subsequent 
drawing  depends  upon  how  well  these  funda- 
mental principles  are  taught,  and  how  well  they 
are  understood  and  practiced. 

When  the  sphere  can  be  drawn  in  a  tolerably 

^  These  exercises  are  arranged  according  to  the  Newton  and 
Brewster  theory,  and  endeavor  to  show  the  formation  of  the 
tertiaries,  —  citrine  (orange  and  green),  russet  (orange  and  vio- 
let), olive  (green  and  violet). 


118  CIRCULAR  DRAWING 

satisfactory  manner,  the  fruit  nearest  it  in  shape 
is  to  be  studied,  the  children  selecting  it  them- 
selves and  generally  agreeing  at  once  upon  the 
orange.  Of  course  the  blending  and  overlaying 
of  colors  and  the  shading  are  more  elaborate  here, 
as  well  as  the  stroke  of  the  pencil,  which  differs 
from  the  absolutely  circular  movement  used  in 
making  the  disk,  and  all  these  are  always  to  be 
studied  from  the  natural  object.  Then  another 
nearly  spherical  fruit,  the  peach,  for  instance,  is 
represented,  and  so  on  through  a  series  of  fruit 
studies.  Each  of  these  is  drawn  within  a  circle  of 
suitable  size,  that  its  approach  to  and  departure 
from  the  geometric  outline  may  be  clearly  noted, 
—  it  is  represented  in  the  natural  size  and  studied 
from  the  natural  object. 

Vegetables  next  occupy  the  field,  always  lead- 
ing the  children  first  to  select  the  one  most  nearly 
spherical,  then  to  handle  it  and  study  its  varied 
tones  of  color  and  its  distinctive  peculiarities  of 
form.  Each  vegetable  is  still  represented  within 
the  circle,  for  the  object  of  the  entire  system  is 
to  show  that  from  that  form  all  else  in  nature 
is  evolved.  The  pencil  stroke  again  differs  here, 
and  the  reason  why  we  may  no  longer  draw  ex- 
actly "  round  and  round,"  or  from  top  to  bottom, 
is  easily  found  out  by  a  little  study  of  the  surface 
of  the  beet  or  the  turnip. 

The  representation  of  flowers  in  the  circular 
drawing  system  begins,  as  in  all  the  other  series, 


CIRCULAR  DRAWING  119 

by  the  selection  of  as  perfect  a  specimen  of  the 
desired  outline  as  can  be  found,  and  the  first 
blossom  studied  must  have  an  entire  corolla  like 
the  morning  glory,  thus  corresponding  to  the  un- 
divided circle.  Two,  three,  four,  five,  and  six 
petaled  flowers  follow,  and  it  is  desirable  that 
the  children  select  them  all  themselves  in  jour- 
neys with  the  kindergartner  through  field  and 
garden,  for  only  as  we  see  them  growing  can  we 
really  know  and  love  these  visible  proofs  of  the 
Father's  goodness. 

After  the  flowers  are  drawn  and  studied,  the 
circular  system  takes  up  leaf  work,  beginning  per- 
haps with  the  "rounded  shield"  of  the  nastur- 
tium, and  passing  on  to  the  more  irregular  leaves, 
with  their  varied  forms  and  edges  exquisitely 
cut.  Roots  and  bulbs  next  occupy  the  children's 
attention,  still  being  represented  in  circles  of 
appropriate  size,  —  though  most  of  the  roots  have 
evidently  now  wandered  far  away  from  the  origi- 
nal ground-form,  and  with  these  Miss  Marwe- 
del's  circular  drawing  system  closes. 

Froebel  noted,  in  the  extract  from  the  "  Kin- 
dergarten Wesen,"  given  at  the  begin-  Animal 
ning  of  this  chapter,  that  the  child's  ^°"^ 
impulse  to  represent  by  drawing  ventures  also 
near  the  living,  and  that  he  tries  to  make  the 
rabbit  with  its  rounding  forms,  the  mouse,  sheep, 
dove,  etc. 

The  circular  drawing,  as  planned  by  Miss  Mar- 


120  CIRCULAB  DRAWING 

wedel,  has  never  attempted  anything  of  this  kind, 
but  there  seems  no  reason  why  an  animal  series 
should  not  follow  the  botanical  forms,  and  be 
much  enjoyed  by  the  children  of  the  connecting 
class,  for  instance.  Many  young  animals,  when 
quiet  or  asleep,  resemble  spheres  as  closely  as 
do  the  fruits;  witness,  for  instance,  the  downy 
chicken,  the  yellow,  fluffy  gosling,  the  kitten,  or 
the  rabbit.  There  are  a  variety  of  picture-books 
for  children  which  make  use  of  this  resemblance, 
and  show,  by  a  few  slight  touches,  the  trans- 
formation of  a  ball  into  a  drowsy  cat,  or  the  rear 
view  of  one  intently  watching  a  mouse-hole,  of 
the  mouse  himself,  of  a  long-eared  rabbit,  of  a 
lambkin,  a  squirrel,  a  baby  bear,  a  puppy,  a 
turtle,  a  bird  asleep  on  his  perch,  a  globe-fish, 
a  pouting  pigeon,  a  hedgehog,  or  a  porcupine. 
"The  Nimble  Pennies,"  a  series  of  sketches  by 
"Boz,"  lately  published  in  "Little  Men  and 
Women,"  give  many  useful  suggestions  for  this 
work,  and  the  major  part  of  the  designs  in  "  The 
Magic  Pear  "  ^  could  be  appropriated  for  circular 
drawing.  In  these  the  pear  is  successively  trans- 
formed into  an  elephant,  a  mouse,  a  dog's  head, 
a  rooster,  an  owl,  a  cat,  a  duck  swimming,  a  wide- 
mouthed  fish,  a  frog,  a  robin,  and  a  rabbit,  and 
one  change  is  quite  as  easily  effected  as  another, 
apparently.  Older  children  would  greatly  enjoy 
depicting  this  animal  series,  and  it  would  not  be 

1  The  Magic  Pear,  designs  by  Morgan  J.  Sweeney. 


CIRCULAR  DRAWING  121 

at  all  difficult  to  procure  living  models  of  some 
of  the  above  suggestions,  and  coax  them  into  suf- 
ficient quietude  for  a  hasty  sketch. 

One  objection  to  be  made  to  circular  drawing, 
though  this  does  not  apply  to  the  sys-  possiwe 
tem  itself,  but  to  its  application,  is  the  fo^fircuSJ 
fact  that  the  drawing  and  coloring  of  ^"^^^^^s- 
the  fruits,  leaves,  flowers,  etc.,  is  so  often  done 
from  copies  and  not  from  the  objects.  The  whole 
intent  of  the  work  is  obviously  to  lead  the  child 
to  the  appreciation  and  interpretation  of  nature, 
and  this  object  is  never  gained  by  interposing  a 
copy  between  Nature's  handiwork  and  the  inter- 
preter. The  rudest  colored  sketch  of  a  peach, 
which  the  child  makes  from  the  peach  itself,  is 
worth  inuneasurably  more  than  the  finely  exe- 
cuted copy  of  a  pictured  peach.  Such  copies,  as 
Professor  T.  G.  Rooper  says,  "  soon  become  deeply 
engraven  on  the  memory,  and  supplant  the  more 
accurate  mental  images  formed  by  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  object;  and,  secondly,  they  form  a 
kind  of  mould  into  which  all  fresh  observations 
are  run,  and  thus  prevent  the  child  from  gaining 
new  knowledge,  even  by  a  prolonged  study  of  the 
object.  The  imperfect  mental  image  hinders  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge,  partly  by  preventing 
any  attention  being  paid  to  especial  features,  or 
features  not  previously  observed,  and  partly 
because,  through  mental  laziness,  the  familiar 
mental  and  conventional  image  of  the  object  sup- 


122  CIBCULAB  BBAWING 

plants  the  fresh  image  before  it  has  had  any- 
permanent  effect.  .  .  .  The  child  looks  and  learns 
nothing.     Eyes  he  has,  but  he  cannot  see." 

Is  there  not,  also,  a  certain  objection  to  the 
somewhat  analytic  method  which  studies  and 
represents  one  single  flower  and  one  single  leaf 
by  themselves,  without  regard  to  their  connection  ? 
Should  not  the  process  of  drawing  be  rather  a 
synthetic  one,  and  show  the  flower  and  leaf  to- 
gether, as  they  grow  upon  the  stem  ? 

Lastly,  is  not  the  smallest  drawing  pattern  — 
one  inch  in  diameter  —  somewhat  too  small,  and 
would  not  the  series  of  three  disks  be  materially- 
improved  for  the  use  of  little  children,  if  the  size 
were  increased  from  one  half  to  one  inch?  All 
these  questions  are  put  tentatively,  and  may  be 
answered  by  each  kindergartner  for  herself. 

A  famous  English  artist^  has  spoken  of  the 
Values  of  kindergarten  in  words  which  apply  quite 
Drawing.  perfectly  to  circular  drawing.  "The 
Eroebel  system,"  he  says,  "teaches  children  by 
forms  before  they  can  read  and  write,  and  I  be- 
lieve it  is  right.  .  .  .  The  more  you  teach  children 
to  look  for  beauty  around  them,  the  more  they 
will  think  of  it  in  later  life.  Then  let  us  open 
their  eyes  to  the  beauty  of  nature,  and  let  them 
find  joy  in  form  and  color.  It  will  bear  fruit,  as 
throughout  life  they  will  be  guided  by  taste,  and 
art  and  industry  will  profit  by  it." 

^  Laurence  Alma-Tadema,  R.  A. 


CIRCULAE  DRAWING  123 

The  long  series  of  exercises  with  the  various 
colored  crayons  upon  whole  and  half  circles  of 
different  sizes,  and  curves  of  varying  lengths,  the 
wide  field  for  inventions  thus  opened,  and  the 
easy  freehand  movement  of  the  pencil,  which 
must  be  practiced,  are  so  many  of  the  values  of 
circular  drawing  (even  should  they  not  be  fol- 
lowed by  nature  work),  for  they  teach  "the  art 
of  color,  of  life,  and  of  form  in  direct  applica- 
tion to  what  we  are  to  do  with  each,  and  the 
children  study  the  harmony  of  color  as  the  notes 
in  music." 

Not  all  artists  are  agreed  that  the  child  shall 
use  color  in  sketching  from  objects  and  nature 
throughout  his  entire  school  life,  some  contending 
that  between  the  first  or  second  school  year  and 
the  high  school,  there  should  be  an  intervening 
period  devoted  to  long  and  rigid  drill  in  draw- 
ing and  in  light  and  shade.  No  objection,  how- 
ever, could  be  made  to  allowing  the  kindergarten 
child  to  express  ideas  of  form  from  nature  with 
color,  because  here  technical  excellence  is  not  ex- 
pected. 

The  varied  uses  and  beauties  of  this  system  of 
circular  drawing,  however,  are  best  epitomized  in 
Miss  MarwedeFs  own  words :  — 

"  Therefore,  as  the  curved  line  presents  the 
line  of  all  life  and  beauty,  enabling  the  child  to 
recognize  in  diversity  similarity,  and  in  similar- 
ity diversity,  the  unity  of  the  universe  and  the 


124  CIRCULAB  DRAWING 

simplicity  of  its  laws,  let  us  lead  the  child  to 
use  its  relation  to  all  that  exists,  in  order  to 
create  in  the  unity  of  right  seeing,  right  doing, 
and  right  knowing,  the  poetry  of  childhood  found 
in  Nature's  great  alphabet  of  form."  ^ 

1  Emma  Marwedel,  Kindergarten  Messenger ^  October,  1882. 


FREEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING 

"  It  is  the  fault  of  all  current  systems  of  drawing  that  they 
limit  the  youthful  mind  to  small  inventions.  .  .  .  All  who  pro- 
pose to  teach  or  leam  art  in  any  form  should  seriously  consider 
freehand  as  the  true  key  to  all  its  practice.  It  is  a  great  stimu- 
lant to  quickness  of  perception."  Chas.  G.  Leland. 

It  seems  to  be  supposed  by  some  critics  upon 
kindergarten  drawing,  that  Froebel  con-  pro^bepg 
fined  his  plans  for  the  occupation  ex-  ©^wi^g'^not 
clusively  to  that  department  of  the  art  ^S^^r^ 
which  could  be  executed  upon  the  net  '^^"^*^°"- 
or  checker  work,  and  which  would  lead  eventu- 
ally to  designing,  while  giving  ideas  of  S3mimetry 
and  regularity  and  the  development  of  geometric 
form.  That  this  is  not  so,  however,  is  evident  to 
any  one  who  will  read  his  writings  carefully,  and 
note  that  he  explicitly  states  that  after  the  pupil 
has  made  the  required  progress  in  the  prelimi- 
naries, then  perspective  drawing,  appreciation  of 
light  and  shade,  and  drawing  from  nature  will 
follow. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  these  have  not  followed  in 
most  cases,  and  many  drawing  teachers  Linear 
have  even  gone  so  far  as  to  say  that  S^sTdefed^i 
kindergarten  drawing  absolutely  unfits  for¥rTi'°° 
the    child    for   working    from    nature.  ^*"^^°'^^ 


126       FBEEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING 

That  there  is  good  cause  for  such  a  criticism  in 
some  quarters  at  least,  not  even  the  willfully  blind 
can  deny,  but  it  may  well  be  asked  how  much  of 
this  unfitness  results  from  the  system,  and  how 
much  from  the  interpreter.  Many  kindergartners 
have  augmented  all  the  bad  features  of  the  Froe- 
bel  drawing  by  using  too  small  checker  work ; 
by  giving  petty,  trivial  figures  in  dictation,  there- 
by filling  the  child's  mind  with  petty  images  ;  by 
detaining  him  so  long  on  one  kind  of  line  as  to 
give  a  permanently  cramped  position  of  the  hand ; 
by  using  the  linear  drawing  only,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  other  methods,  and  by  deferring  until 
very  late  in  the  kindergarten  course,  or  not  intro- 
ducing at  all,  the  curved  lines  which  are  so  valu- 
able for  later  school  work  and  for  sketching,  and 
so  satisfying  to  the  child.  There  is,  of  course,  no 
need  for  any  of  these  abuses,  but  no  person  of 
experience  can  deny  that  they  have  been  the  rule, 
rather  than  the  exception,  in  linear  drawing. 

So  far  as  the  network  is  concerned,  it  was 
merely  intended  as  an  aid  to  eye  and  fingers  when 
these  were  too  weak  and  unpracticed  to  carry 
out  the  dictates  of  the  mind,  and  if  used  merely  as 
an  aid,  and  for  preliminary  exercises,  would  prob- 
ably do  no  harm,  but  on  the  contrary  be  quite 
useful  if  the  scale  upon  which  it  was  constructed 
was  large  enough  not  to  injure  the  eye,  or  require 
too  delicate  movements  of  the  hand  and  fingers. 

It  seems  undeniable,  however,  that  drawing  by 


FREEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING       127 

the  aid  of  dots  or  checkers,  the  execution  of  lines 
of  various  leno^ths  and  inclinations,  and  4  P^epara- 

o  ^  tion  for 

the  combination  of  these  into  symmet-  design. 
rical  figures  and  borders  would  lead  much  more 
naturally  to  all  kinds  of  designing,  to  architec- 
tural and  industrial  drawing,  etc.,  than  to  the 
representation  of  natural  objects.  Though  many 
kindergartners  of  to-day  willingly  acknowledge 
the  use  and  beauty  of  linear  drawing,  they  feel 
it  quite  as  necessary  that  the  children  under 
their  charge  should  be  artists  in  the  sense  of 
interpreters  of  nature,  as  that  they  should  be 
designers,  and  that  the  natural  order  of  things 
would  be  to  cultivate  the  faculty  of  design  after 
the  ability  to  represent  nature  had  been  devel- 
oped. From  this  feeling  and  from  the  various 
objections  already  given  to  linear  drawing,  has 
grown  the  demand  for  freehand  work  from  the 
first.  That  this  demand  is  universal,  we  do  not 
assert,  for  many  kindergartners,  be  they  right  or 
wrong,  still  claim  that  by  beginning  with  the 
linear  drawing  properly  carried  out,  and  alternat- 
ing it  regularly  with  outline  and  circular  work, 
they  so  train  the  child's  eye  to  correct  seeing,  and 
his  hand  to  respond  to  the  dictates  of  the  will, 
that  in  his  last  year  in  the  kindergarten,  he  is 
able  to  execute  freehand  drawing  in  a  most  pleas- 
ing and  satisfactory  manner,  and  after  a  little 
practice  to  sketch  intelligibly  any  simple  object 
placed  before  him. 


128       FREEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING 

"  It  is  easier,"  says  Mr.  Charles  G.  Leland,  "to 
learn  to  draw  well  than  to  write  well,  and  there  is 
Freehand       no  child  who  would  not  do  both  admira- 

Drawing 

defined.  ^ly  jf  jt  were  obliged  from  the  first  hour 
to  use  freehand  ;  that  is  to  say,  to  control  the  pen 
or  pencil  from  the  shoulder,  allowing  the  arm  to 
rest  on  the  table  just  enough  to  prevent  fatigue." 
To  adopt  such  a  method  of  drawing  in  the  kin- 
dergarten, if  it  is  practicable,  would  certainly  sat- 
isfy the  physiologist  and  the  psychologist,  would 
come  nearer  to  suiting  the  artist,  and  would  meet 
with  no  disapproval  from  those  who  feel  that  the 
object  of  kindergarten  drawing  is  not  "  the  imita- 
tion of  art-forms,  but  the  cultivation  of  artistic 
self-expression." 

The  great  arguments  advanced  by  the  cham- 
FirstExer-  pio^s  of  freehand  drawing,  or  plastic 
Freehand  drawing  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  are 
rawing.  ^^^^  |^  ^^^  natural  order  of  mental  de- 
velopment, synthetic  exercises  should  come  before 
analytical,  mass  before  detail,  and  the  whole  be- 
fore its  elements.  "  Children,"  says  Mr.  Court- 
hope  Bowen,  "  and  a  great  many  adults  also,  do 
not  see  outlines  at  all  at  first,  or  only  very  dimly. 
Things  appear  to  them  as  masses  of  color  or 
light  and  shade,  with  edges  not  by  any  means 
sharply  defined.  We  should  begin  with  masses 
of  color  and  light  and  shade,  and  work  gradually 
towards  improvement  of  outline  —  at  least,  so  it 
seems  to  some  of  us." 


FREEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING       129 

These  arguments  seem  to  be  borne  out  by  the 
spontaneous  drawings  of  children  so  far  as  these 
have  been  studied,  the  results  of  special  observa- 
tions in  this  line  by  several  paidologists,  proving 
that  young  children  (five  years  and  imder)  "  do 
not  regard  details  in  things,  but  look  upon  them 
as  wholes  capable  of  being  put  to  some  practical 
use."  Our  own  experiments  in  a  different  line 
have  gone  to  prove  the  correctness  of  the  observa- 
tions by  showing  that  very  young  children  natu- 
rally concern  themselves  little  about  the  size  or 
form  or  color  of  an  object,  or  animal,  but  very 
much  about  what  it  can  do  and  what  it  is  good 
for. 

The  first  exercises  in  freehand  drawing  are 
upon  circles,  thus  connecting  with  the  study  of 
the  sphere.  The  child  should  be  carefully  trained 
in  the  position  of  hand  and  pencil  and  paper,  and 
know  before  the  drawing  begins  what  he  is  ex- 
pected to  do  and  the  manner  in  which  it  is  to  be 
done.  It  is  well  for  the  teacher  first  to  draw  a 
number  of  circles  upon  the  blackboard  so  that  all 
may  watch  the  round  and  roimd  movement  of  the 
chalk  ;  in  some  kindergartens  the  children  execute 
all  the  first  exercises  on  the  blackboard,  as  it  is 
thought  that  they  thus  become  accustomed  from 
the  beginning  to  larger,  freer  movements.  It  is 
well  also  in  the  beginning  to  practice  circular 
movements  in  the  air,  in  time  to  music  or  a  song. 
One  might  suppose  that  it  would  be  very  easy  for 


130      FREEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING 

children  to  make  approximately  perfect  circles  in 
this  manner,  but  partly  because  they  have  never 
observed  the  form  closely,  and  partly  because 
their  hands  are  untrained,  they  commonly  pro- 
duce at  first,  parallelograms,  ellipses,  polygons, 
or  strange  amorphous  blurs  and  unintelligible 
scratches.  Even  the  circular  movement  of  the  pen- 
cil is  not  easily  learned,  and  must  be  practiced  so 
often  that  it  becomes  necessary,  in  order  to  avoid 
monotony,  to  join  with  the  work  —  as  Froebel  ad- 
vised in  the  "  Kindergarten  Wesen  "  —  "  the  ex- 
planatory word  that  speaks  to  the  mind,"  or  "  the 
clearing,  rejoicing  word  of  song."  Color  may  also 
add  its  magic  touch  here  and  make  the  work  all 
golden  to  the  child.  He  may  have  bright  chalks 
for  the  blackboard,  and  crayons  or  powdered  pas- 
tels and  stumps  for  the  paper,  —  the  color  being 
used,  if  considered  desirable,  as  a  legitimate  re- 
ward for  effort  and  improvement. 

If  the  circles  are  drawn  on  paper,  each  effort 
should  be  discussed  and  compared  with  others  to 
see  whether  the  form  is  in  the  middle  of  the 
paper,  whether  it  is  of  an  appropriate  size  and 
has  a  proper  margin,  whether  the  circular  form 
is  approached  or  reached,  and  whether  the  desired 
stroke  has  been  kept  throughout.  The  child  takes 
great  delight  in  his  own  improvement,  and  if  his 
practice  papers  are  kept  and  shown  him  from  les- 
son to  lesson,  he  will  observe  with  pride  his  steady 
climb,  round  by  round,  up  the  ladder  of  progress. 


FREEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING       131 

When  the  circular  movements  have  been 
learned  fairly  well;  when  the  children  subsequent 
can  make  circles  of  various  sizes,  so  ^"'""^^ 
that  he  who  does  not  run  too  fast  may  read  them ; 
when  they  have  been  combined  in  various  ways, 
and  when,  therefore,  eye  and  hand  have  received 
much  preliminary  training,  we  may  begin  a  little 
study  of  light  and  shade  by  means  of  objects. 
Let  it  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  above 
knowledge  has  been  gained  in  a  day  or  in  a  week 
or  a  month ;  for  infinite  pains,  and  much  good  and 
inspiring  teaching  have  been  bestowed  on  that 
rough  circle  which  the  casual  visitor  looks  upon 
so  carelessly.  The  fact  is,  that  drawings  pro- 
duced by  the  freehand  method  are  not  for  a  long 
time  what  can  be  called  "  show  work."  They  are 
truthful  and  honest,  therefore  beautiful,  in  one 
sense,  and  they  are  always  interesting  to  the 
teacher;  but  they  are  absolutely  crude  at  first, 
and  sometimes  discouraging  to  those  who  have 
not  learned  to  estimate  effort  and  achievement  at 
their  true  value.  When,  however,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  kindergartner,  the  children  are  ready 
for  the  work,  the  ball  suspended  by  its  string 
is  frequently  first  attempted,  each  exercise  being 
preceded  by  a  talk  about  the  object,  so  that  an 
intelligent  beginning  may  be  made.  Even  now, 
strange  as  it  may  appear,  the  string  will  be  repre- 
sented, quite  as  frequently,  as  coming  from  the 
side,  or  lower  portion  of  the  ball,  as  from  the 


132      FREEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING 

top,  and  sometimes  is  not  connected  with  it  at 
all;  though  the  fact  that  it  is  always  conspicu- 
ously drawn  somewhere  on  the  paper,  is  proof 
that  it  is  seen  and  considered  important.  Ee- 
peated  effort  is  necessary  here,  comparison  with 
the  teacher's  ball  and  with  the  balls  of  other 
children,  before  it  is  properly  drawn,  and  even 
then  it  is  a  circle  with  a  string,  and  not  a  sphere. 
The  gradations  of  light  and  shade,  which  are 
needed  to  make  it  look  spherical,  are  much  more 
difficult,  and  can  only  be  represented  approxi- 
mately by  little  children.  Some  kindergartners 
prefer  a  fruit,  —  a  rosy  apple,  for  instance,  —  in- 
stead of  a  ball  for  this  first  sketching,  as  the 
variety  in  color  is  more  attractive,  and  the  gloss 
on  its  rounded  sides  makes  the  high  light  more 
easily  seen.  If  the  kindergartner  uses  a  reading 
glass  to  focus  the  rays  more  perfectly,  it  will  be 
an  illumination  to  the  children,  as  well  as  to  the 
apple,  and  if  the  fruit  be  placed  on  white  paper 
the  shadow  will  be  seen  more  easily.  A  great 
many  experiments  will  be  made  here  before  satis- 
factory results  can  be  obtained,  for  it  is  essential 
that,  in  various  playful  ways,  the  kindergartner 
should  lead  the  children  to  see  for  themselves 
the  light  and  the  shadow,  and  not  point  it  out 
to  them,  or  indicate  in  so  many  words  the  fault 
in  the  sketch.  We  may,  of  course,  use  parti- 
colored apples,  as  well  as  red,  for  this  first  work ; 
but  it  is  easier  to  see  the  light  on  a  dark-red  fruit 


FREEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING       133 

than  on  a  yellow  one,  for  instance.  Then  follow 
pears,  tomatoes,  oranges,  etc.,  and  any  vegetables 
which  are  approximately  round  and  regular,  and 
by  and  by,  if  we  have  patience,  we  shall  be  aston- 
ished at  the  truth  with  which  the  child  represents 
simple  objects.  After  a  year's  training,  the  child 
of  five  years  draws  quite  well,  and  with  expres- 
sion, flowers,  and  fruits,  and  leaves,  and  other 
simple  objects,  as  a  vase  or  a  cup* to  hold  the 
blossoms,  a  flower-pot  with  its  growing  plant,  or 
a  bunch  of  cherries  with  its  leaves.  It  is  the  eas- 
ier to  teach  the  child  to  draw  in  this  manner,  be- 
cause he  is  entirely  without  "  the  embarrassment  of 
knowledge,"  which,  as  the  artists  say,  so  "  perverts 
the  appearance  of  things,"  and  therefore  draws 
from  what  he  sees,  and  not  from  what  he  knows. 
All  the  other  occupations  and  gift  work  of  the 
kindergarten  are  so  many  aids  to  draw- 
ins:,  for  they  all  cultivate  observation,  of  other 

,  ,  11.  -•  .        Kindergar- 

develop  the  aesthetic  nature,  and  tram  ten  work  to 

*■  ^  Drawing. 

the  hand,  the  eye,  and  the  mind.  Model- 
ing is  of  particular  value  in  this  regard,  for  by 
handling  the  soft  clay  the  child  makes  the  very 
object  which  he  subsequently  draws,  and  so  learns 
to  know,  as  he  could  in  no  other  way,  its  distinc- 
tive peculiarities  of  form.  We  have  no  concep- 
tion, until  we  have  tried  to  model  an  object,  how 
little  we  ever  knew  about  it,  though  we  may  have 
looked  at  it  every  day  of  our  lives  siuce  child- 
hood.    Modeling,  cutting,  and  drawing  are  now 


134       FREEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING 

used  as  means  of  expression  in  the  majority  of 
our  schools,  and  the  results  are  full  of  promise 
to  those  who  believe  in  spontaneity  rather  than 
imitation. 

Freehand  drawing,  however,  whether  it  be  used 

as  an  introduction  to  design,  or  to  the 

Teacher  of     representation   of    natural    objects,   re- 

herseifan      quircs  a  tcachcr  who  thoroughly  under- 

Artist.  ^  _  ,  ,  .  ^      •'.       .    , 

stands  at  least  the  elementary  prmciples 
of  art.  She  has  no  traditions  to  follow,  no  abso- 
lute and  formal  system  to  cling  to,  and  so  much 
depends  upon  her  judgment  and  experience  and 
taste  and  artistic  feeling,  that  it  is  impossible  for 
her  to  teach  drawing  as  it  should  be  taught,  un- 
less she  can  draw  well  herself.^  Fortunately,  we 
can  all  learn  the  art  more  or  less  successfully,  if 
we  begin  early  enough ;  but  if  the  years  have  gone 
by  and  left  us  absolutely  without  capacity  for  this 
mode  of  thought-expression,  it  is  better  to  in- 
trust this  department  of  our  work  to  some  one 
who  does  understand  it. 

^  "The  only  text-book  from  which  may  be  learned  this  fine 
art  of  uncovering  artistic  expression  to  little  children,  is  that 
of  the  inspirational  and  enthusiastic  interpreter,  one  who  is  a 
devotee  to  the  cause  of  all  that  is  true,  constructive,  and  of  good 
repute.  The  art  feeling  comes  not  through  evolutionary  or 
hereditary  processes,  but  through  revelation.  The  teacher  who 
has  the  exquisite  wisdom  to  detect  the  budding  genius,  and  the 
faith  to  await  its  blossoming  with  gentle  appreciation,  she  is  a 
revelator.  There  is  no  patent  method  for  such  teaching,  and 
the  teacher,  as  the  children's  friend,  is  the  only  practice- 
manual."     (Amalie  Hofer.) 


FREEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING       135 

We  are  accustomed  to  talk  quite  freely  about 
the  value  of  kindergarten  work  in  de-  Left  and 

,        .  ,  .  1  .  ,  .  1         Riglit  Hand 

veloping  ambidexterity,  but  it  may  be  Drawing, 
questioned  whether,  in  many  cases,  practice  fol- 
lows as  close  upon  theory  as  it  should  do.  Un- 
doubtedly the  work  may  be  used  for  this  pur- 
pose, but  how  often  do  we  in  reality  lead  the 
children  to  employ  the  left  hand,  save  as  an  aid 
to  the  right?  The  purpose  and  value  of  training 
the  left  hand  was  dwelt  upon  at  some  length  in  a 
previous  volume,^  and  need  not  here  be  greatly 
enlarged  upon.  People  are  sometimes  inclined 
to  doubt  the  worth  of  such  training,  but  a  little 
thought  will  show  that  in  many  trades  both  hands 
are  equally  necessary,  and  in  all  work  it  would 
obviously  be  a  great  added  convenience  to  have 
a  skilled  left  hand  able  to  take  the  place  of  the 
right  on  occasion.  "  The  right  hand  is  also  in- 
fluenced through  sympathy  "  —  to  quote  from  the 
report  of  a  leading  art  school  —  and  "  better  re- 
sults are  claimed  from  the  right  hand,  working 
the  left  also,  than  from  the  right  hand  working 
alone,  in  the  same  space  of  time.  Biology  also 
teaches  that  the  more  the  senses  are  coordinated  in 
the  individual  the  higher  the  type,"  and  no  one 
who  has  tried  training  the  "  idiotic  left  hand,"  as 
Dr.  Stanley  Hall  calls  it,  can  fail  to  be  impressed 
with  the  resultant  gain  of  power.  If  we  begin 
early  enough,  the  children  readily  learn  to  use  one 

^Republic  of  Childhood,  Vol.  I.,  FroehePs  Gijls,  pages  156,  157. 


136       FBEEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING 

hand  nearly  if  not  quite  as  well  as  the  other,  and 
neither  make  objection  to  doing  so,  nor  show  less 
ability  in  the  right  hand  in  consequence,  while 
marked  improvement  results  in  other  directions. 
Linear  drawing  can  be  quite  easily  done  with 
the  left  hand,  but  perhaps  the  best  field  for  it  is 
the  blackboard,  where  the  children  have  room  for 
large  designs,  and  can  work  first  with  one  hand, 
then  with  the  other,  and  finally  use  both  in  a 
series  of  exercises. 

"  The  correct  holding  of  the  fingers  and  of  the 
hand,  for  the  free  use  in  drawing,  requires  a 
Right  Po-       correspondingly  correct  free  use  of  the 

sitions  of  r  o  J  ^ 

Children.  wholc  right  arm ;  this  requires  again, 
indispensably,  a  corresponding  use  of  the  other 
limbs  and  the  whole  body  of  the  child  who  draws, 
if  it  would  represent  what  it  creates  with  free 
action  of  the  body  and  with  a  free  spirit.  For  a 
free,  skillful  use  of  the  body  presupposes,  neces- 
sarily, a  free,  bright  spirit,  as  both  mutually  con- 
dition one  another."  ^ 

The  child  should  be  taught  to  sit  upright  while 
drawing,  —  this  is  imperative  from  a  hygienic 
point  of  view,  —  for  bending  over  the  work  is  a 
prolific  cause  of  curvature  of  spine  and  near- 
sightedness. He  cannot  make  large  movements, 
or  get  free  execution,  if  he  is  allowed  to  rest  his 
nose  on  the  paper,  and  as  an  aid  in  this  matter  he 
should  use  long  pencils.     He  should   also   hold 

^  Friedrich  Froebel. 


FREEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING       137 

his  paper  square  on  the  table,  parallel  with  its 
edge,  and  be  taught  to  work  from  the  shoulder 
and  not  let  the  weight  of  his  body  fall  upon  his 
arms.  All  these  positions,  however,  must  be 
taught  while  the  preliminary  exercises  are  being 
practiced,  so  that  they  will  be  natural  and  easy, 
for  when  it  comes  to  sketching,  to  hold  the  child 
back  with  directions  about  positions  of  body, 
arms,  paper,  and  pencil  will  take  all  the  joy  and 
freedom  from  the  work,  and  very  likely  discourage 
him  altogether. 

When  the  children  have  had  a  little  practice  in 
pencil  holding,  though  this  many  of  illustrative 
them  have  had  before  coming  to  the  children. 
kindergarten,  they  will  take  the  greatest  pleasure 
in  illustrating  simple  poems  and  stories,  and  the 
younger  they  are,  commonly,  the  more  rapid  and 
confident  are  their  sketches,  and  the  more  un- 
daunted do  they  seem  in  the  face  of  difficulties. 
In  fact,  they  do  not  recognize  difficulties  at 
all,  generally  speaking,  and  are  just  as  ready  to 
draw  the  tossing  ocean  as  a  mud-puddle.  These 
drawings  are  most  valuable  for  the  student  of 
childhood,  and  the  less  previous  instruction  the 
children  have  had  the  better  for  this  purpose,  as 
the  drawings  are  then  more  spontaneous.  The 
poem  or  story  must  be  well  known,  of  course,  so 
that  there  may  be  a  more  or  less  clear  mental 
image  of  the  objects  or  personages  mentioned, 
and  then,  after  it  has  been  repeated,  these  will  be 


138       FREEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING 

rapidly  drawn  and  with  little  hesitation.  It  is 
most  important  that  the  kindergartner  should  add 
neither  line  nor  suggestion  to  these  rude  pictures, 
for  their  greatest  value  is  in  their  spontaneity. 
If  she  gathers  and  preserves,  from  year  to  year, 
large  collections  of  the  illustrations,  sorting  them 
according  to  the  age  of  the  artists,  she  will  do  a 
service  to  education,  since  many  valuable  deduc- 
tions may  be  made  from  them,  —  and  a  service  to 
herself,  because  she  will  thus  the  better  under- 
stand the  individuality  of  each  child  under  her 
care.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  more  really  good 
verses  and  simple  poems  suitable  for  children  of 
kindergarten  age  are  not  to  be  had,  for  these  are 
most  useful  for  various  purposes  besides  that  of 
illustration.  The  kindergartner,  however,  who 
keeps  a  scrap-book,  into  which  she  may  gather  the 
useful  bits  of  flotsam  and  jetsam  from  her  daily 
reading,  can  supplement  these  with  selections  from 
the  various  collections  of  children's  poems,  and 
thus  always  have  something  appropriate  at  hand. 

The  spontaneous  drawings  above  described  are 
useful  in  another  direction,  because  they  greatly 
increase  the  sum  of  the  teacher's  pleasure.  Of 
course  this  pleasure  must  be  quite  concealed  when 
the  sketches  are  being  made,  but  they  are  often 
so  original,  so  quaint,  so  unconsciously  humorous, 
that  they  touch  all  the  secret  springs  of  laughter. 

In  some  kindergarten  normal  schools  a  com- 
plete course  in  blackboard  drawing  is  now  given 


FREEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING      139 

to  the  students,  and  it  has  long  been  the  prac- 
tice to  do  so  in  several  of  the  English  illustrative 
training  schools,  the  Froebel  Society  of  Teachers. 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  giving  examinations 
in  this  branch  to  students  who  apply  for  its  cer- 
tificates. No  accomplishment  is  more  useful  for 
^ny  teacher  than  to  be  able  to  illustrate  simply 
and  quickly  her  ideas  and  her  lessons  upon  the 
blackboard;  and  for  the  kindergartner  it  is  es- 
pecially valuable,  on  account  of  the  youth  of  her 
pupils  and  the  fact  that  a  picture  is  always  intel- 
ligible to  children  of  all  ages  and  all  races,  when 
a  spoken  word  may  or  may  not  be  understood. 

It  is  certain  that  all  intelligent  and  normal 
persons,  if  taught  by  the  right  method,  could 
learn  to  draw  freely  enough  for  ordinary  pur- 
poses, as  easily  as  they  learn  to  write ;  but  what 
are  we,  who  were  not  so  taught  and  have  no 
natural  ability,  to  do  in  the  matter?  Some  of 
us  can  now  never  learn  to  draw  well  enough  to 
sketch  in  the  presence  of  the  children  the  re- 
quired object  or  figure,  unless  we  have  given  it 
long  practice  beforehand.  We  can,  however,  by 
the  aid  of  the  various  books  and  manuals  on  the 
subject,  prepare,  for  instance,  a  series  of  illustra- 
tions for  any  story,  and  cover  each  with  paper 
until  the  right  moment  comes  to  introduce  it. 
The  effect  when  the  drawing  is  unveiled  is  dra- 
matic and  thrilling  in  the  extreme,  and  is  not  so 
dependent  on  the  beauty  of  the  workmanship  as 


140       FREEHAND  AND  NATURE  DRAWING 

might  be  imagined.  A  series  of  picture  tales  — 
the  "  Peter  and  Patty  Stories  "  —  was  published 
in  "  Babyland  "  a  few  years  ago,  and  these  lent 
themselves  charmingly  to  the  above  method  of 
illustration,  the  children,  by  the  aid  of  the  pic- 
tures, telling  the  story  themselves  with  the  great- 
est glee  when  once  it  was  begun.  Any  continued 
story  might  easily  be  told  on  the  same  plan,  as  the 
kindergartner  could  select,  from  the  books  at  her 
command,  such  pictures  as  she  could  best  make. 
"  The  Kindergarten  Blackboard,"  by  Miss  Marion 
Mackenzie,  Miss  Bertha  Hintz's  "  Illustrative 
Blackboard  Sketching,"  Augsburg's  series,  "  Easy 
Things  to  Draw,"  and  several  of  the  Prang  Art 
Manuals  are  all  very  valuable  aids  to  blackboard 
work,  as  the  pictures  are  presented  simply,  with 
bold  outlines,  and  the  elimination  of  all  unneces- 
sary detail. 


THE  THREAD  GAME 

Materials :  A  thread  of  bright  -  colored  darning  cotton ;  a 
squared  slate ;  a  wooden  pointer  the  size  and  shape  of  a  slate 
pencil. 

Threads  and  cords   are   the   basis  of  many 
amusements   which   are    traditional    in 
every  country.     Who  has  not  seen  little  with 

Threads  a 

children  absorbed  in  their  knitting  with  universal 

.  *='  Pleasure. 

a  spool  and  pins,  who  has  not  taken 
part  in  that  game  in  which  a  knotted  string,  by 
dexterous  manipulation  and  much  slipping  on  and 
over  little  fingers,  becomes  the  Single  and  Double 
Cross,  the  Pond,  the  Fish,  the  Tailor's  Long 
Scissors,  and  finally  the  "  Cat's  Cradle ; "  ^  who  has 
not  watched  boys  intent  upon  learning  to  tie  the 
various  knots,  the  slip  knot,  square  knot,  sailor 
knot,  overhand,  figure  of  8  and  bowline,  and 
wished  that  some  of  the  ardor  and  fury  of  per- 

1  "  This  game  is  found  in  nearly  all  i>arts  of  the  world.  The 
Dyaks,  or  natives  of  Borneo,  are  very  skillful  at  it,  making 
many  kinds  of  puzzling  figures,  and  the  Maoris  of  New  Zealand 
are  also  fond  of  it.  The  latter  call  It  Mani,  the  name  of 
their  national  hero,  by  whom  they  say  it  was  invented.  Its 
various  patterns  represent  incidents  in  Mani's  life  and  other 
events,  forming  a  kind  of  pictorial  history  of  the  country." — 
The  Young  Folks'  Cyclopcedia  of  Games  and  Sports. 


142  THE  THREAD  GAME 

formance  shown  therein  might  be  transferred  to 
the  tasks  of  the  school?  And  this  same  child- 
ish pleasure  in  handling  the  soft  pliable  thread 
becomes  the  basis  of  many  useful  and  beautiful 
occupations  in  later  life,  —  the  knitting,  tatting, 
crocheting,  darning,  sewing,  netting,  embroider- 
ing, drawing  in,  which  are  a  solace  to  so  many 
weary  hours. 

The  thread  game  in  the  kindergarten  differs 
a  little  from  any  of  these  amusements  and  indus- 
The  Thread  trics,  but  it  is  a  vcry  pleasing  occupa- 
th^J^Kinder-  tiou,  nevertheless,  and  not  only  pleas- 
^^  "'  ing,  but  possessing  certain  well-defined 
points  of  value.  The  thread  used  is  of  bright- 
colored  darning  cotton  from  twelve  to  eighteen 
inches  long,  the  ends  being  knotted  together. 
The  knot  should  be  made  as  small  as  possible, 
and  care  should  be  taken  that  the  thread  lies 
quite  smooth  before  fastening,  else  it  will  curl  and 
writhe  like  a  snake  when  we  attempt  to  move  it. 
It  should  be  thoroughly  moistened  before  using, 
'and  is  then  laid  on  a  squared  slate.  The  child 
now  takes  his  wooden  pointer  and  pushes  it  into 
any  form  suggested  by  the  kindergartner,  this 
being  the  fundamental  figure  of  a  sequence  to  be 
developed  later.  Of  course  if  a  square  or  circle 
is  to  be  the  fundamental  figure,  no  dimensions 
need  be  given,  but  if  we  are  to  work  from  an 
oblong,  for  instance,  we  must  know  its  required 
length  and  width.     The  child  should  not  touch 


THE  THREAD  GAME  143 

the  thread  with  the  fingers,  the  pointer  being  all 
that  is  requisite  to  produce  the  various  figures. 
It  is  well  to  have  the  slates  slightly  moist  before 
beginning  the  dictations,  and  now  and  then  to  ask 
one  of  the  children  to  serve  as  a  "  little  helper  " 
and  sprinkle  a  few  drops  of  water  on  each  one, 
for  if  either  the  thread,  or  the  surface  on  which  it 
lies,  grows  dry,  the  movements  cannot  be  executed 
accurately. 

Here,  as  in  the  other  occupations,  there  should 
always  be  a  little  informal  conversation  about 
the   materials   the   children  are  usinoj.   converea- 

°      tion  about 

With  the  thread  game  we  have  wood.  Materials, 
slate,  and  cotton,  and  as  the  exercise  is  commonly 
only  used  in  the  older  classes  of  the  kindergar- 
ten, there  should  be  little  need  of  the  imparting 
of  much  information  by  the  kindergartner,  but 
the  pupils  themselves  should  be  eager  to  tell 
what  they  know  on  the  subject.  It  is  not  sup- 
posed that  such  an  exercise  is  to  be  turned  into 
a  recitation,  and  the  children  balked  of  their  le- 
gitimate desire  to  handle  the  thread  and  pointer 
and  make  something  at  once.  They  must  not 
be  allowed  to  become  impatient  for  their  work 
and  eye  it  longingly  while  question  and  answer 
are  going  on,  but  the  conversation  should  ripple 
pleasantly  along  while  the  materials  are  being 
distributed,  and  thus  beguile  the  time  of  waiting. 
The  value  of  such  conversations  does  not  lie 
alone,  nor  chiefly,  in  the  opportunities  for  self- 


144  THE  THREAD  GAME 

expression  they  provide,  but  in  the  gratification  of 
healthy  curiosity  as  to  the  "  how  "  and  "  why  "  of 
things,  the  furnishing  of  a  rational  interpretation 
of  some  of  the  phenomena  with  which  this  great, 
mysterious,  unknown  world  is  filled. 

The  thread,  representing  with  equal  readiness 
Forms  of  *^®  Straight  line  or  the  curve,  corre- 
Beauty,*^^^'  spouds  to  the  stick  and  ring  in  the  gifts. 
*"  ®'  By  means  of  the  pointer  and  the  check- 
ers on  the  slate,  it  may  be  pushed  into  number- 
less forms,  both  geometrical  and  artistic,  and  may 
also  be  made  to  represent  fruits,  leaves,  flowers, 
vegetables,  household  implements,  and  furniture. 
We  commonly  begin  by  making  some  simple  geo- 
metrical form,  as  a  circle  for  instance ;  then  per- 
haps we  push  it  out  a  certain  number  of  spaces  at 
the  upper  edge  and  make  a  pear,  pull  it  down  at  the 
lower  edge  and  make  a  leaf,  push  it  out  at  the  sides 
and  make  a  diamond-shaped  window-pane,  and  go 
on,  until  in  one  charming  sequence  we  have  made 
from  our  accommodating  friend  the  circle,  a 
heart,  a  dumb-bell,  a  carrot,  a  toad-stool,  an  um- 
brella, and  a  pair  of  spectacles,  the  children  ex- 
claiming with  delight  at  each  new  and  unexpected 
form.  If  the  kindergartner  has  any  faculty  for 
rhyming,  and  can  improvise,  as  Froebel  advised, 
some  little  verse  which  will  bring  in  this  hetero- 
geneous collection  of  articles,  one  can  imagine  the 
merriment  that  will  follow. 

If  we  began  with  a  pentagon,  we  may  direct 


THE  THREAD  GAME  146 

that  all  its  corners  shall  be  pushed  in  a  certain 
number  of  spaces,  and  so  proceed  until  we  have 
produced  a  series  of  forms  of  symmetry,  some  of 
which  are  as  graceful  as  bits  of  seaweed,  with 
their  many  branching  fronds. 

The  fundamental  form  for  all  these  transforma- 
tions must  be  laid  with  exactness,  else  Exactness 
the  child  cannot  follow  the  dictations  tSL^work" 
properly,  and  he  must  push  the  thread  the  re- 
quired number  of  spaces,  and  no  more  or  less, 
or  he  will  fail  to  get  the  desired  figure.  For  this 
reason  the  occupation,  as  has  been  said,  is  not 
suitable  for  the  very  youngest  children,  as  it 
requires  a  little  more  care  than  they  could  be 
expected  to  give.  The  thread  game  is  one  of  our 
most  effective  means,  on  this  account,  for  teaching 
the  relation  of  cause  and  effect.  If  in  the  first 
few  moves  of  a  sequence  the  child  makes  a  serious 
mistake,  there  is  no  redress.  He  cannot  go  for- 
ward, for  his  figure  is  probably  already  so  unlike 
that  of  any  one  else  that  he  cannot  follow  the 
dictation,  and  he  cannot  go  back  to  the  beginning, 
unless  all  the  other  members  of  the  class  are  will- 
ing, and  would  be  justified  in  waiting  for  him. 
He  must  simply  sit  still  till  the  brief  dictation  is 
over,  and  then  be  ready  for  the  next  series  of 
figures,  or  the  free  invention. 

Invention  is  so  easy  in  the  thread  game,  and 
the  work  is  enjoyed  so  tnoroughly,  that  the  occu- 
pation is  a  very  useful  one   to  give  when   the 


146  THE  THREAD  GAME 

children  seem  a  little  tired,  or  have  been  having  a 
more  difficult  gift  exercise  than  usual. 

Invention.  .„ 

Atter  dictatmg  the  fundamental  form 
and  the  first  few  moves,  it  is  well  often  to  leave 
the  children  quite  unhampered,  and  let  them  go 
on  by  themselves  and  make  their  own  discoveries. 
The  kindergartner  should  be  at  hand,  however, 
for  she  will  constantly  be  needed  to  admire  the 
successes,  to  hear  the  fanciful  names  applied  to 
the  forms  produced,  to  sympathize  with  the  fail- 
ures and  encourage  trying  again,  and  to  see  if 
the  successful  child  can  retrace  the  steps  by  which 
he  has  reached  some  particularly  attractive  form. 
With  a  square  table,  at  which  four  children  can 
sit,  one  on  each  side,  and  a  longer,  heavier  thread, 
or  cord,  group  work  can  be  carried  out  success- 
fully, and  the  very  care  which  each  must  exercise, 
lest  he  pull  the  figure  too  far  his  way,  or  dis- 
arrange his  neighbor's  side  of  the  pattern,  makes 
the  work,  when  completed,  a  greater  pleasure. 

The  thread  game,  though  it  may  be  classed 
Value  of  among  the  minor  occupations,  and  is  not 
Game.  at  all  csscutial  to  the  scheme  of  kinder- 

garten handiwork,  is  yet  quite  valuable  in  some 
directions.  It  is  very  seldom  used,  and  yet  the 
fact  that  children  like  it  so  well,  and  that  there 
are  no  serious  objections  to  be  made  against  it, 
should  recommend  it  to  our  attention. 

The  figures  produced  with  the  pliable  thread 
have  the  charm  of  unexpectedness,  and  of  nov- 


THE  THREAD  GAME  147 

elty  also,  for  they  are  quite  unlike  those  made 
with  any  other  occupation.  The  work  is  an 
assistance  in  eye-training  and  in  measurement ;  it 
impresses  the  outlines  of  the  simple  geometrical 
planes  upon  the  mind ;  it  teaches  carefulness  and 
accuracy  and  gives  a  lightness  and  delicacy  of 
touch  which  are  useful  in  all  work.  It  is,  on  the 
whole,  a  very  simple  occupation,  requiring  little 
previous  preparation,  for  the  threads  may  be  used 
again  and  again,  and  is,  on  that  account,  espe- 
cially well  suited  to  the  nursery,  where  it  may  be 
trusted  to  while  away  many  restless  hours  on  a 
rainy  day. 


PAPER  INTERLACING 

Materials :  White  or  colored  paper  strips  from  one  fourth 
inch  to  an  inch  and  more  in  width,  and  from  twelve  to  eighteen 
inches  long. 

Paper  interlacing  is  commonly  classed  as  one 
Paper  ^^  ^^^  so-callcd  minor  occupations,  which 

S^or^occu-  niost  kindergartners  would  consider  as 
pation.  being  slat  interlacing,  peas-work,  chain 
making,  bead  stringing,  cardboard  modeling, 
roUed  -  strip  work,  paper  interlacing,  and  the 
thread  game.  Intertwining,  or  paper  twisting,  as 
it  is  quite  as  commonly  called,  is,  if  carried  out 
to  its  full  extent,  the  most  difficult  of  any  of  these 
occupations,  and  is  therefore  only  suitable  for  the 
older  children  in  the  kindergarten,  save  perhaps 
in  some  of  its  preliminary  exercises,  such  as  the 
making  of  angles  and  simple  figures. 

The  long  strips  for  paper  twisting  may  be  had, 
Practical  ^f  coursc,  at  the  kindergarten  supply 
Directions.  g^^Q^es,  but  may  also  be  cut  in  large 
quantities  at  any  bookbinder's  or  the  wholesale 
paper  establishments.  The  long  strips  are  given 
to  the  children,  the  glazed  paper  being  best 
adapted  to  these  first  efforts  which  require  so 
much  fumbling  and  experimenting,  and  the  mate- 


PAPER  INTERLACING  149 

rial,  color,  length,  and  width  are  fully  discussed. 
The  inch-wide  strips  are  commonly  used  for  these 
preliminary  exercises,  as  the  principles  of  turning 
and  folding  corners  and  fastening  ends  are  best 
learned  on  a  large  scale.  The  strip  is  first  folded 
in  half,  its  entire  length,  and  then  held  by  both 
ends  and  placed  in  such  positions,  dictated  by  the 
kindergartner,  or  one  of  the  more  capable  chil- 
dren, as  will  help  in  develoi^ing  and  fixing  ideas 
of  position,  form,  direction,  etc.  Next  the  desire 
for  producing  something  is  gratified,  and  the 
paper  is  bent  into  a  right  angle,  using  the  lines 
on  the  table  as  a  guide.  It  is  discovered  now 
that  the  right  angle  is  only  shown  on  the  inside 
of  the  strip,  the  outer  edge  making  a  slanting 
line  where  the  corner  is  turned.  We  could  prob- 
ably go  over  no  more  ground  than  this  in  the  first 
exercise,  even  with  quite  capable  children,  and 
a  pleasant  finish  to  the  play  would  be  to  put  all 
the  right  angles  into  a  common  stock  and  make  a 
group- work  invention,  which  may  be  laid  out  on 
a  large  table  by  several  of  the  children  according 
to  the  suggestions  of  the  class.  This  may  subse- 
quently be  mounted  by  the  kindergartner,  and 
serve  as  a  souvenir  of  the  first  play  with  the  inter- 
lacing strips. 

For  the  next  exercise  the  strip  will  be  folded  as 
before,  and  two  or  three  simple  figures  subsequent 
made  from  it,  a  square,  an  oblong,  and  ^^^'■*''^*- 
a  triangle,  perhaps.     Not  more  than  this,  if  as 


150  PAPER  INTERLACING 

much,  can  be  done  in  one  lesson,  as  the  principle 
of  turning  the  corners  will  not  yet  be  obvious  to 
all,  and  the  fastening  of  the  ends  presents  still 
another  difficulty.  These  large  squares  and  other 
figures  may  be  given  to  the  babies  and  serve  as 
frames  for  their  simple  work. 

When  the  paper  twisting  is  taken  up  again, 
the  strip  given  is  the  half,  or  three-quarter  inch 
width,  and  the  children  are  taught  to  fold  it  twice, 
first  bending  and  creasing  down  one  third  of  its 
entire  length,  and  then  doubling  the  other  third 
over  upon  this.  This  process,  of  course,  makes 
the  paper  one  third  as  wide  and  three  times  as 
strong.  The  simple  forms  must  now  be  made 
again  with  the  narrow  strip,  for  the  children  are 
not  yet  ready  for  the  interlacing,  or  weaving,  of 
one  figure  into  another.  As  a  step  toward  this, 
however,  there  may  be  another  cooperative  exer- 
cise. John  may  give  his  square  to  Lucy,  for  in- 
stance, receiving  her  triangle  in  return,  and  the 
kindergartner  may  intertwine  each  pair  for  them, 
while  they  look  on  with  eager,  admiring  eyes. 
The  pretty  design  thus  made  may  be  mounted  on 
paper  as  a  present,  or  used  for  the  child's  book 
of  kindergarten  work. 

A  mechanical  contrivance  called  the  "  Little 
Greaser"  has  lately  been  invented,  which  is  a 
great  help  in  folding  the  paper  into  thirds.  It  is 
a  box-like  wooden  arrangement,  with  two  bent 
wires  and  grooves  in  the  bottom,  and  a  cover  which 


PAPER  INTERLACING  151 

is  shut  down  upon  the  stiip.  This  is  then  pulled 
out  through  one  of  the  open  ends,  and  is  found 
to  have  been  creased  in  two  well-defined  lines 
its  entire  length,  serving  as  a  guide  to  the  eye  in 
folding.  It  is  great  fun  to  pull  the  strip  through, 
even  for  grown  people,  and  is  not  so  much  of  a 
help  to  the  children  as  to  be  objectionable,  in  our 
opinion. 

The  squares  on  the  table  or  slate  are  really 
not  sufficient  as  a  guide  in  paper  twisting  save 
for  the  first  exercises  and  the  rectangular  figures, 
so  we  early  introduce  large  heavy  pasteboard  tab- 
lets around  which  the  strip  may  be  folded.  These 
are  the  fundamental  forms  of  the  seventh  gift, 
but  made  on  a  larger  scale,  usually  that  of  two 
or  three  inches.  The  child  lays  the  tablet  on 
the  table  and  follows  its  outline  with  the  folded 
strip,  bending  and  creasing  it  carefully  at  each 
comer.  He  must  early  be  led  to  see  that  there 
is  no  beauty  in  the  work  unless  accurately  done, 
and  there  really  seems  to  be  no  one  of  the  occu- 
pations, save  its  first  cousin,  paper  folding,  which 
so  depends  for  its  pleasing  effect  upon  absolute 
and  mathematical  exactness. 

When  the  child  has  learned  to  make  a  few 
simple  geometrical  figures  fairly  well,  it  interlacing, 
is  time  to  take  the  next  step,  that  of  Sr;,*^^***^^' 
interlacing  them  to  form  a  design.  If  "**^''  ^**'- 
we  are  working  upon  squares,  for  instance,  the 
first  one  is  completed,  carefully  fastened,  and  laid 


152  PAPER  INTERLACING 

parallel  with  the  edge  of  the  table,  while  the  sec- 
ond is  woven  into  it,  under  one  side  and  over  the 
other  —  under  —  over  —  until  it  lies  securely  fas- 
tened into  the  first  in  diagonal  position,  the  two 
forming  a  very  pretty  star-like  figure.  Any  two 
similar  geometric  forms  may  be  thus  intertwined, 
the  best  effects  being  produced  from  the  regular 
figures,  and  subsequently  a  variety  of  these  inter- 
laced, making  a  large  design.  Most  of  the  Ger- 
man "  Guides  "  give  elaborate  examples  of  inter- 
twining, and  a  series  of  plates  from  the  designs 
of  Mme.  Kraus-Boelte  are  to  be  had,  some  of 
which  are  very  intricate  and  interesting,  and 
would  seem  almost  impossible  to  any  fingers  but 
those  gifted  with  a  magic  touch.  All  kinds  of 
charming  effects,  in  contrasting  colors  and  in  vari- 
ous tones  of  one  color,  may  be  produced  with  the 
interlaced  figures,  for  we  have  all  the  resources 
of  the  modern  color-market  in  the  engine-colored, 
coated,  and  glazed  papers  at  our  disposal. 

The  strips  may  be  folded  four  or  five  times 
when  older  children  or  grown  persons  are  using 
the  occupation,  making  a  very  pretty  effect  when 
contrasted  with  the  broad  ribbon-like  appearance 
of  the  strip  folded  once.  Elaborate  borders  may 
also  be  interlaced  to  surround  the  designs,  to  orna- 
ment box  covers  and  frame  the  various  kinds  of 
handiwork,  and  a  further  and  very  pleasing  modi- 
fication may  be  added  to  the  occupation  by  fold- 
ing the  corners  of  the  figures  into  one,  or  a  series 


PAPER  INTERLACING  153 

of  rosettes.  The  process  by  which  these  rosettes 
are  folded  is  not  one  which  can  well  be  described 
in  written  words,  though  it  is  not  particularly  dif- 
ficult, and  is  easily  learned  from  dictation  or  illus- 
tration. 

As  paper  twisting  illustrates  the  straight  line, 
it  may  be  used  to  produce  any  simple  porms  of 
life  forms,  but  it  is  perhaps  inadvisable  fSe^S^' 
to  employ  it  for  this  purpose,  as  it  can  ^®*"'y- 
only  be  done  by  pasting  the  strips  in  position,  and 
allows  no  interlacing  of  figures,  which  is,  of  course, 
the  idea  on  which  the  occupation  is  based.  We 
must  always  begin  with  the  geometrical  forms  as 
a  foundation,  and  one  of  the  chief  values  of  inter- 
twining is  that  it  shows  so  beautifully  the  devel- 
opment of  symmetrical  figures  from  the  mathe- 
matical basis.  This  lesson  cannot  be  so  well 
learned  if  we  use  the  strips  for  making  life  forms, 
and  we  also  lose,  in  a  measure,  one  of  our  oppor- 
tunities for  teaching  the  practical  working  of  the 
law  of  mediation  of  contrasts. 

Paper  interlacing  may  be  made  quite  useful  in 
the  school,  on  account  of  the  trifling  ex-  ^se  of  inter- 
pense  of  the  materials  and  because  it  ^^mlr" 
needs  no  previous  preparation,  which  ^•'^^^*' 
latter  fact  is  a  matter  for  serious  consideration 
when  one  has  fifty  children  in  charge  and  only 
one  pair  of  hands.  It  may  be  used  to  illustrate 
the  various  lines  and  angles  either  from  dictation 
or  from  drawings  on  the  blackboard,  for  impress- 


154  PAPER  INTERLACING 

ing  still  further  the  simple  geometrical  forms, 
their  names  and  the  number  of  their  sides  and 
angles,  and  may  also,  after  folding  in  halves  or 
thirds,  be  creased  into  inches  and  used  for  esti- 
mating distances  and  dimensions.  The  figures 
produced  may  be  devoted  by  the  pupils  to  group- 
work  inventions,  for  this  cooperative  work  is 
more  than  ever  necessary,  now  that  the  children's 
individuality  is  more  fully  developed,  their  ambi- 
tion growing,  and  the  time  approaching  when 
they  must  assume  the  duties  of  the  citizen.  We 
have  seen  the  blackboards  in  a  primary  school- 
room very  effectively  bordered  with  broad  three- 
inch  strips  of  paper  twisting  folded  into  a  run- 
ning design  and  fastened  in  position  with  small 
brass-headed  tacks.  The  children  took  the  great- 
est pride  in  this  border,  which  was  the  work  of 
the  entire  class. 

Dr.  Hailmann  makes  the  following  suggestion, 
in  his  "  Kindergarten  Occupations  in  the  School," 
as  to  the  connection  of  intertwining  with  draw- 
ing :  "  These  forms,"  he  says,  "  yield  excellent 
material  for  drawing  exercises,  on  the  slate  or  on 
the  blackboard.  There  can  be  no  objection  to 
exercises  in  extending  the  forms  in  drawing,  by 
permitting  the  addition  of  more  lines.  .  .  .  On 
the  contrary,  these  exercises  are  of  great  value, 
since  they  train  the  pupils  in  the  difficult  art 
of  recognizing  the  simple  types,  from  which  all 
forms,  however  complicated,  are  derived.     Thus 


PAPER  INTERLACING  155 

they  render  the  powers  of  analysis  keen  and  reli- 
able in  the  discovery  of  types,  and  the  powers  of 
synthesis  ready  and  fertile  in  the  invention  of  new 
combinations  or  modifications  of  types  ;  while,  at 
the  same  time,  they  furnish  ample  and  valuable 
groundwork  for  future  generalizations  and  classi- 
fications." 

Paper  twisting  is  in  reality  a  combination  of 
the  two  occupations  folding  and  weav- 

T   .       ..  •  c  11  Paper  twist- 

ing:, and  m  its  various  lorms  has  always  ing  a  favor- 

°  ...  ite  Occupa- 

been  a  favorite  with  childhood.     There  tion  of 

Children. 

were  certain  snow-white  stars  folded  by 
a  very  complicated  method  long  since  forgotten, 
which  once  used  to  give  a  great  deal  of  pleasure 
to  two  little  girls  we  knew,  and  if  our  memory 
serves  us,  the  points  of  those  same  stars  could  be 
slipped  one  into  the  other  and  thus  make  a  very 
pretty  frame  for  cherished  photographs.  Then 
there  were  little  book-marks  and  air-castles  and, 
best  of  all,  fascinating  baskets  that  were  filled 
with  flowers  and  hung  to  door-bells  on  the  eve  of 
May-day,  long  ago.  And  don't  you  remember 
the  "  Pussy-cat  stairs  "  that  mother  used  to  fold 
for  us  when  we  were  very  little,  so  little  that  we 
could  only  watch  in  round-eyed  wonder  the  deft 
white  fingers  as  they  fashioned  the  tiny  staircase  ? 
Ah,  the  kindergarten  does  well  indeed  when 
it  gathers  up  the  traditional  nursery  plays  and 
weaves  them  into  a  garland  to  delight  and  charm 
the  children  of  to-day  1 


SLAT  INTERLACING 

Materials :  Thin  tincolored  wooden  slats,  of  birch,  oak,  or  other 
tough  wood,  about  ten  inches  long  and  one  half  inch  wide. 

There  is  much  similarity  between  slat  work 
Parallel  be-  ^^^  paper  twisting,  the  aim  of  both  be- 
and^Paplr*^  ing  the  interlacing  or  weaving  together 
Interlacing.  ^£  ^^^  ^^  morc  independent  figures. 
They  give  much  the  same  impressions  of  form, 
size,  number,  position,  and  direction,  and  are 
equally  useful  in  design  ;  but  the  former  occupa- 
tion is  simpler  than  the  latter,  and  better  adapted 
to  the  representation  of  objects  connected  with 
the  child's  daily  life  and  sympathy.  They  dif- 
fer, however,  in  material,  in  color,  in  the  fact 
that  the  slats  are  ready  for  immediate  use,  while 
the  papers  need  preparation  by  folding,  and  also 
in  that  complete  figures  only  are  interlaced  in 
paper  twisting,  while  in  slat  work  separate  slats 
representing  lines  are  interwoven  with  the  geo- 
metric forms. 

The  slats  are  a  part  of  the  eighth  gift,  but,  as 
noted  in  the  previous  volume,^  are  used  commonly 
for  interlacing  and  as  a  preparation  for  weaving. 

1  Republic  of  Childhood  J  Vol.  I,,  FroebeVs  Gifts,  page  145. 


SLAT  INTERLACING  157 

That  they  are  properly  classed  among  the  gifts, 
however,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  forms  pro- 
duced with  them  are  not  necessarily  permanent, 
but  can  be  resolved  into  their  original  elements 
without  change  in  the  material. 

The  slats  are  early  introduced  in  the  kinder- 
garten, though  with  no  attempt  at  first  introduction 
to  use  them  for  interlacing,  but  merely  **' "'®  ^^**' 
to  pave  the  way  for  the  sticks,  and  to  teach  sim- 
ple lessons  in  regard  to  the  directions  of  lines,  the 
parts  and  the  spacing  of  the  table,  etc.,  and  thus 
prepare  for  later  dictation.  Save  in  peas-work, 
this  is  the  only  occupation  in  which  wood  is 
employed,  so  we  have  a  wide  field  for  all  the 
charming  stories,  songs,  and  poems  we  can  gather 
together  on  the  subject.  The  exercises  must  be 
brief  when  the  slat  is  first  used,  and  as  they  are 
not  yet  concerned  with  making,  are  apt  to  grow 
a  little  tiresome  if  not  enlivened  by  the  kinder- 
gartner.  The  songs  of  the  "  Carpenter,"  the 
"  Trees,"  and  the  "  Wood-sawyers  "  ^  may  appro- 
priately be  sung  now,  as  well  as  those  old  kinder- 
garten favorites,  the  "  Sawing  Song "  and  the 
"  Joiner." 

Miss  Emilie  Poulsson's  delightfid  book,  "  In 
the  Child's  World,"  in  its  various  chapters  on 
Wood,  Trees,  and  the  Carpenter,  is  a  storehouse 
of  valuable  material  for  stories,  all  of  which,  of 

^  Kindergarten  Chimes  (Kate  D.  Wiggin),  published  by  Oli- 
ver Ditson  Co. 


158  SLAT  INTERLACING 

course,  are  equally  as  useful  with  the  building 
gifts ;  and  her  "  Old-Fashioned  Ehyme,"  which 
follows  the  wood  in  all  its  processes  of  transfor- 
mation from  the  tree  to  the  house,  should  be 
memorized  by  every  kindergartner. 

There  are  a  number  of  things  to  be  found  out 
First  Exer-  about  the  slat,  besides  its  material,  its 
the  Slat.  color,  length,  and  width  ;  and  the  chil- 
dren, if  properly  led,  may  make  a  series  of  sci- 
entific experiments  with  the  simple  bit  of  wood. 
To  illustrate  the  law  of  balance,  the  slat  may  be 
poised  on  the  back  of  the  hand,  on  the  finger- 
tips, etc.,  and  finally  serve  as  a  see-saw  laid  across 
a  small  block,  two  of  the  wooden  lentils  merrily 
riding  at  each  end  and  an  appropriate  song 
being  sung.  Nor  would  it  be  waste  of  time,  if 
it  were  the  close  of  an  exercise,  for  the  kinder- 
gartner to  cut  out  hastily  a  pair  of  rude  paper 
dolls  for  each  of  the  small  teeters.  We  may 
well  believe  that  there  would  be  much  more  thor- 
ough investigation  into  the  laws  of  equal  dis- 
tribution of  weight,  if  these  attractions  were 
added. 

Mme.  Kraus-Boelte  gives  the  following  plea- 
sant exercise,  bringing  out  elasticity,  vibration, 
and  also  rhythm.  The  children  are  directed  to 
hold  the  slat  firmly,  projecting  halfway  over  the 
edge  of  the  table,  to  press  the  projecting  part 
down,  release  it  quickly  and  note  the  buzzing 
or  whirring  sound  to  be  heard  and  the  vibration 


SLAT  INTERLACING  159 

plainly  to  be  seen.  The  sound  will  vary  accord- 
ing to  the  length  of  the  projection  and  the  thick- 
ness of  the  slat,  and  the  whole  class  may  make  an 
amusing  chorus  by  being  allowed  to  sound  the 
slat,  each  in  turn  with  a  regular  rhythm,  or  all 
together. 

A  variety  of  exercises  in  vibration  can  be  given 
with  the  slat,  and  also  many  in  elasticity  which 
will  show  the  principle  of  the  bow  and  arrow. 
Hermann  Goldammer  ^  mentions  one  exercise  in 
elasticity,  which  we  have  found  to  be  received  by 
the  children  with  the  greatest  delight  and  accla- 
mation. "  Lastly,"  he  says,  "  we  must  put  the 
elasticity  of  the  slat  to  a  practical  use  by  making 
it  serve  as  a  sort  of  catapult.  To  this  end  we 
may  hold  it  on  the  table  with  one  end  projecting 
beyond  the  edge  and  the  other  held  tightly  down, 
and  place  on  the  extremity  of  its  projecting  part  a 
tiny  ball  of  wool  with  a  feather  or  two  stuck  into 
it  to  make  it  the  more  visible.  The  pressure  of 
the  finger  bends  down  the  slat,  suddenly  we  let 
loose,  and  up  flies  the  ball  to  the  ceiling,  to  the 
no  small  delight  of  the  child." 

Even  with  two  or  three  slats  rude  life-forms 
may  be  made,  but  these  are  only  line-  siatweav- 
pictures,  and  cannot  be  lifted  from  the  "*' 
table.     With   a   fourth   slat,  however,   the   true 
inwardness  of  the  occupation  and  the  flexibility 
of  the  wood  stand  revealed ;  for  if  each  slat  comes 

^  The  Kindergarten,  page  156. 


160  SLAT  INTERLACING 

in  contact  with  the  other  three,  and  is  supported 
by  them  in  such  a  manner  that  two  slats  rest  on 
one  side  of  it,  whilst  the  third,  the  middle  one, 
rests  on  the  other  side,  a  complete  figure  will  be 
produced  which  can  be  lifted  from  the  table. 
The  theory  of  weaving  the  slats  over  and  under 
seems  a  simple  one  enough,  but  experience  will 
show  that  there  is  a  wide  gap  between  theory  and 
practice.  Though  the  child  must  be  shown  at  first 
how  to  weave  them  together,  yet  he  will  never 
really  learn  the  process  until  he  has  experimented 
by  himself  and  probably  made  several  failures. 
He  may  have  achieved  an  apparent  success  with 
his  weaving,  and  yet  as  he  attempts  to  lift  the 
form  it  falls  into  pieces  in  his  hands.  "  It  was 
the  one  slat-i*^  says  Edward  Wiebe,  "  which,  owing 
to  its  dereliction  in  performing  its  duty,  destroyed 
the  figure  and  prevented  all  the  other  slats  from 
performing  theirs."  The  wise  kindergartner  may 
use  this  little  occurrence  for  the  pointing  of  a 
story  on  the  value  of  cooperation,  and  the  moral, 
if  it  is  not  too  strongly  insisted  upon,  will  sink 
into  the  heart  of  the  child,  weighted  as  it  is  by 
his  experience  with  concrete  things. 

With  a  few  slats  the  child  can  make  a  variety 
of  life-forms,  as  stars,  fans,  gates,  picture-frames, 
trellises,  boats,  etc.,  and  when  he  has  once  grasped 
the  principle  by  which  the  figures  hold  together, 
he  will  invent  freely  with  the  material.  Many 
beautiful  forms  of  symmetry  can  be  made  also ; 


SLAT  INTERLACING  161 

but  though  all  these  must  rest  upon  a  foundation 
of  knowledge  forms,  yet  the  geometrical  outlines 
are  not  as  easily  studied  here  as  in  the  paper 
twisting,  for  they  are  somewhat  confused  by  the 
crossing  and  interwoven  sticks.  For  number- 
work,  however,  slat  weaving  is  much  better 
adapted  than  the  former  occupation,  and  thus 
again  gives  evidence  of  its  kinship  to  the  stick 
family.  As  the  interlaced  figures  grow  more  com- 
plex, the  width  and  length  of  the  slats  may  be 
reduced,  and  the  ends  pointed  or  rounded,  thus 
producing  very  dainty  little  designs  which  may 
be  mounted  on  heavy  colored  paper.  For  kinder- 
garten children,  however,  the  width  of  the  slats 
should  not  be  lessened,  and  it  would  be  better,  for 
the  first  exercises,  if  they  could  be  had  double 
the  present  width.  Some  authorities  advise  soak- 
ing them  a  half  hour  in  warm  water  before  at- 
tempting to  cut  them,  but  this,  though  it  makes 
the  wood  more  pliable,  tends  in  our  experience  to 
discolor  it. 

Slat  interlacing  has  never  been  a  very  popular 
occupation  in  our  American  kindergar-  vaiueof 

^  °  Slat  Inter- 

tens,  but  when  one  considers  the  mat-  lacing. 

ter,  it  is  really  difficult  to  know  why  this  should 
be  so.  It  needs  no  previous  preparation,  there- 
fore is  well  adapted  for  use  when  the  kinder- 
gartner  is  tired  or  hurried ;  the  children  like  it 
very  much,  and  the  older  ones,  after  the  first  few 
lessons  in  weaving  the  figures,  can  be  left  quite 


162  SLAT  INTERLACING 

by  themselves  in  times  of  exigency,  and  trusted 
to  experiment  and  work  on  most  industriously. 
The  designs  produced  are  large  and  free,  having 
none  of  that  delicate  prettiness  (or  pettiness) 
about  them  which  so  distinguishes  paper  twisting, 
and  the  materials  handled  are  so  substantial  in 
size  as  to  produce  no  strain  whatever  on  the  ac- 
cessory muscles  and  the  finer  nerve-centres.  The 
work  is  admirable,  too,  in  developing  ambidex- 
terity, for  the  left  hand  is  constantly  called  into 
play  in  holding  and  weaving  in  the  slats,  and  it 
connects  admirably  with  design  in  industrial  and 
mechanical  drawing. 

The  slats  have  long  been  in  use  in  the  school. 
Slat  Work  in  ^^^  commouly  are  only  employed  there 
the  School.  £qj,  jjumber-work  and  for  word-making. 
Many  teachers  have  as  yet  little  idea  of  the  value 
of  the  kindergarten  occupations  for  what  is  called 
"  busy  work."  Froebel  says  in  this  regard,^  "  The 
plays  and  occupations  of  children  should  by  no 
means  be  treated  as  offering  merely  means  for 
passing  the  time  (we  might  say,  for  consuming 
time),  hence  only  as  outside  activity,  but  rather 
that  by  means  of  such  plays  and  employments  the 
child's  innermost  nature  must  be  satisfied.  This 
truth  has  indeed  been  before  expressed ;  but  on 
account  of  its  deep  importance  for  the  whole  life 
of  the  child  and  man,  it  cannot  be  too  often  re- 
peated, too  impressively  stated,  nor  can  its  truth 
be  too  often  established  from  all  pomts  of  view." 
1  Pedagogics^  page  108. 


SLAT  INTERLACING  163 

For  real  "  busy  work,"  work  done  with  delight 
and  with  a  purpose,  the  slats  are  admirably  fitted, 
not  only  for  numerical  problems  and  word-mak- 
ing, but  for  free  and  directed  design.  The  teacher 
may  draw  upon  the  blackboard  large  figures,^ 
either  forms  of  life  or  symmetry,  which  the  pupil 
may  reproduce  from  his  seat,  or  the  older  children 
may  draw  figures  which  the  smaller  ones  may 
weave  together.  She  may  also  write  simple  prob- 
lems on  the  board,  such  as  "  Interlace  two  equilat- 
eral triangles,  two  squares,  two  hexagons,"  etc. ; 
or  "  Use  eight  slats  in  making  a  gate,  or  sixteen 
slats  in  making  a  picture  frame." 

All  the  life  forms  may  be  connected  with  the 
daily  work,  or  the  topic  uppermost  in  the  chil- 
dren's minds.  How  delightful  it  would  be,  for 
instance,  in  the  week  preceding  Thanksgiving  to 
draw  the  "  Mayflower  "  and  the  "  Speedwell "  on 
the  board  for  reproduction  one  day.  Peregrine 
White's  cradle  and  the  first  log-house  another 
day,  and  the  third,  caU.  for  slat-pictures  of  the 
little  Pilgrim  Church,  the  Indian  wigwams,  and 
the  seats  and  tables  for  the  first  Thanksgiving 
party. 

Suppose  a  series  of  these  designs,  and  many 
others  easily  suggested  by  the  story ,2  be  fastened 

1  A  series  of  beantif nl  designs  for  slat  interlacing  is  published 
by  E.  Steiger  &  Co.,  New  York. 

2  Kate  D.  Wiggin  and  Nora  A.  Smith,  The  Story  Hour^  page 
107. 


164  SLAT  INTERLACING 

on  the  blackboard  and  a  few  ornamental  touches 
in  colored  chalks  added  by  the  kindergartner, 
and  what  a  light  upon  the  historic  meaning  of 
the  day  would  rush  into  the  brains  of  Ivan  Mi- 
chalitschke  and  Ingeborg  Svendsen  and  Dinney 
O'Hoolahan ! 

Group- work,  also,  both  in  school  and  kinder- 
garten, may  be  very  beautifully  carried  out  when 
the  teacher  clearly  understands  the  principles  on 
which  it  rests  and  is  fully  convinced  of  their  im- 
portance, and  thus  the  entire  band  of  children  be 
united  by  the  magic  of  "  Together." 

"We  scarcely  realize,  perhaps,  the  value  of  in- 
vaiue  of        dustrial  training  as  so  sweetly  and  natu- 

Industrial  n      i  •         i       i  •      i  mt 

Training.  rally  Dcgun  lu  the  kindergarten,  ihere 
needs  no  argument  to  prove  how  much  more  help- 
ful and  useful  it  is  to  the  child,  to  fall  in  love 
with  industry,  and  journey  with  her  willingly 
hand  in  hand,  than  to  be  bound  to  her  side  and 
lashed  reluctantly  along  in  the  chain-gang  !  The 
kindergarten  children  love  to  work,  it  is  their 
greatest  pleasure,  their  highest  desire,  —  they 
have  to  be  coaxed  and  gently  entreated  to  be  idle, 
and  they  commonly  know  no  punishment  so  se- 
vere as  to  be  divorced  from  their  beloved  occu- 
pations. When  in  the  future  every  child  in  the 
republic  has  passed  three  of  his  most  impres- 
sionable years  in  an  atmosphere  of  hearty,  happy 
industry,  and  when  creative  handiwork  is  con- 
tinued throughout  the  schools  in  connection  with 


SLAT  INTERLACING  165 

purely  mental  training,  then  there  needs  no  pro- 
phet to  foresee  the  brightness  of  the  day  that 
will  dawn.  The  popular  feeling  in  regard  to  'the 
dangers  of  idleness,  is  well  reflected  in  the  wise 
proverb,  "  Idle  fingers  are  the  devil's  tools,"  and 
in  Dr.  Watts's  old  couplet, 

"  Satan  finds  some  mischief  still 
For  idle  hands  to  do," 

and  that  this  popular  feeling  has  a  strong  basis  of 
fact  is  abundantly  proven  by  the  statistics  which 
show  that 'Seven  tenths  of  the  convicted  criminals 
in  the  United  States  have  never  learned  a  trade, 
nor  followed  any  industrial  pursuit. 

An  eminent  divine  ^  has  lately  summed  up  the 
matter  in  most  effective  fashion  in  the  following 
words :  "  Industrial  ignorance  is  the  mother  of 
idleness,  the  grandmother  of  destitution,  the  great- 
grandmother  of  socialism  and  nihilistic  discontent. 
So  far  as  the  battle  of  life  is  concerned,  to  train 
children's  ideas  without  training  their  fingers  is 
like  putting  a  regiment  through  musket  drill ; 
it  is  healthy  discipline  and  affords  pleasant  dress 
parade,  but  will  avail  little  before  the  enemy, 
unless,  with  all  other  acquirements,  they  have 
learned  to  shoot." 

1  Dr.  Chas.  H.  Parkhurst. 


WEAVING 

"  The  art  of  weaving  is  exceeding'  old, 
As  we  by  King  Deioces  have  been  told. 
'T  is  said  that  Ghelen  weaving  first  began, 
Which  hath  descended  since  from  man  to  man. 
The  mothers  taught  their  daughters,  sires  their  sons. 
Thus  in  a  line  successively  it  runs, 
For  general  profit,  and  for  recreation. 
From  generation  unto  generation."  — Anpn. 

Materials :  Square  and  oblong  paper  mats  of  various  colors 
and  sizes,  cut  into  strips  from  one  eighth  to  one  half  inch  wide, 
and  surrounded  by  an  appropriate  margin  (these  represent  the 
warp) ;  strips  of  similar  widths  and  harmonizing  colors  (the 
woof) ;  a  steel  weaving  needle  (the  shuttle). 

Weaving,  perhaps  the  most  ancient  of  the 
manufacturing  arts,  whose  invention  is  lost  in 
the  mists  of  antiquity,^  is  that  industry  by  which 
threads,  or  yarns  of  any  substance,  are  interlaced 

1  "  The  art  of  platting,  which  carries  in  it  the  germ  of  the 
art  of  weaving,  is  of  immemorial,  undiscoverable  antiquity. 
There  can  hardly  have  been  a  time  when  men  did  not  weave 
together  twigs  or  reeds  to  form  a  rude  tent  covering  —  a  prim- 
itive house.  And  one  proof  of  the  immense  antiquity  of  this 
practice  is  given  by  the  numerous  names  for  twigs,  reeds,  etc., 
in  different  languages,  which  are  derived  from  words  signifying 
to  twist,  or  weave.  The  word  weave  itself  (Ger.  weben)  is  con- 
nected with  a  Sanskrit  root  ve,  meaning  much  the  same  thing ; 
and  we  find  this  same  root  ve  reappearing  again  in  the  Latin 
vimen,  a  twig,  and  vitis,  a  vine,  —  the  last  so  named  from  its 
tendrils,  which,  we  should  judge,  were  used  for  platting  before 


WEAVING  167 

SO  as  to  form  a  continuous  web.     "  The  weaving 
of  clothing  is  one  of  the  three  primal  Antiquity  of 

°      .  ^       ,  the  Art  of 

race  occupations,   the  other  two  being  weaving. 
planting  for  food  and  building  for  shelter,  and 
Froebel  believes  that  these  three  forms  of  activity- 
are  essential  to  normal  development." 

Among  the  remains  of  the  lake  dwellers  in  the 
second  stone  age  we  find  woven  cloths,  sometimes 
worked  with  simple  but  not  inartistic  patterns. 
Felkin  says,  "  To  draw  out  the  locks  of  hair  and 
wool  and  spin  them  by  distaff  and  spindle  has 
been  a  practice  for  four  thousand  years,  and  to 
weave  them  into  cloth  by  that  oldest  textile  in- 
strument, the  weaver's  loom,  is  an  art  traceable 
nearly  to  the  time  of  Noah." 

After  the  death  of  Methuselah  the  art  of  weav- 
ing appears  to  have  made  considerable  advance  in 
the  East,  particularly  in  China,  India,  and  Persia. 
The  first  loom  of  which  there  is  authentic  record 
was  invented  by  Arkite  Ghiden  Ghelen  about 
this  time.^     The  weavers  at  work  in  those  long- 

they  were  used  for  producing  grapes.  From  the  same  root 
again,  and  for  the  same  reason,  are  derived  the  Latin  vibur- 
num, briony ;  the  Slavonic  wetle,  willow  ;  the  Sanskrit  vetra, 
reed.  The  Latin  scirpus,  reed,  and  the  Greek  ypi<pos,  a  net,  are 
allied ;  but  these  may  not  be  instances  quite  in  point.  Such 
rude  platting  as  this  is  a  very  diiferent  thing  from  the  elab- 
orately woven  cloths  found  among  the  remains  of  the  lake  vil- 
lages whose  construction  involves  also  the  art  of  spinning." — • 
Keary,  The  Dawn  of  History,  page  334. 
.   ^  Gilroy  on  Weaving. 


168  WEAVING 

ago  times  in  the  far  East  must  have  presented 
a  charming  sight,  for  we  read  that  their  houses 
were  always  built  near  the  shade  of  tamarind  and 
mango  trees,  under  which  at  sunrise  they  fixed 
their  looms.  The  older  kindergarten  children 
would  delight  in  a  story  about  these  brother  weav- 
ers, and  also  in  the  strongly  contrasted  picture 
of  the  Lapland  maiden,  as  she  sits  at  her  loom 
of  reindeer  bones,  in  her  dusky  ice-hut  with  its 
blubber  lamp. 

The  pages  of  the  Old  Testament  are  rich  with 
references  to  weaving  and  weavers,  —  witness 
Exodus,  Ezekiel,  Chronicles,  and  the  book  of 
Joshua.  We  read  that  the  first  men  to  teach  the 
art  to  the  Hebrews  were  Bezaleel,  the  son  of  Uri, 
and  Aholiab,  the  son  of  Ahisamach. 

From  the  history  of  Samson  it  is  evident  that 
the  cultivation  of  flax  and  the  arts  of  spinning 
and  weaving  were  practiced  by  the  Philistines, 
and  Solomon  greatly  increased  the  industry  among 
the  Hebrews.  From  the  far  East  the  art  passed 
long  before  Homer  into  Greece,  and  thence  over 
all  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean.  In  Ovid's 
"  Metamorphoses  "  we  find  the  following  descrip- 
tion of  weaving :  — 

"  Unto  the  solid  beam  the  warp  is  tied, 
While  hollow  cones  the  parting  threads  divide, 
Through  which  a  thousand  shuttles  swiftly  play, 
And  for  the  zephyr  weft  prepare  a  ready  way."  ^ 

^  Metamorphoses,  VI.,  O'Roorke's  translation. 


WEAVING  169 

In  the  pages  of  Theocritus,  Ovid,  Homer,  Vir- 
gil, Herodotus,  and  other  Greek  writers,  we  find 
most  beautiful  word-pictures  of  woven  stuffs  and 
of  weaving  as  an  industry.  There  is  no  such 
imagery  in  our  modern  literature  concerning  any 
handiwork  of  the  present  day  as  can  be  found  in 
these  classics. 

The  art  of  weaving  was  unknown  in  Great 
Britain  previous  to  the  Roman  invasion.  After 
the  Romans  had  obtained  a  footing,  they  estab- 
lished a  woolen  manufactory  at  Winchester. 
They  also  taught  the  natives  the  culture  of  flax 
and  the  art  of  weaving.^ 

The  simplest  form  of  weaving  is  that  employed 
in  making  the  mats  of  uncivilized  races.  Mat  weav- 

.  ing:  Weaver 

Ihese  are  woven  in  the  same  way  as  Birds, 
the  first  mats  in  the  kindergarten,  using  in  place 
of  paper  the  fibres  of  vegetable  growths,  —  the 
ends  of  these  fibres  being  fastened  to  a  stick 
to  keep  them  in  place.  How  the  early  savage 
races  originated  the  art  of  weaving  cannot  now  be 
known,  but  it  may  have  been  from  studying  or 
imitating  the  habits  of  certain  birds.  Among  the 
most  noticeable  of  these  are  the  weaver  birds  of 
Africa,  the  name  having  reference  to  the  remark- 
able way  in  which  their  hanging  nests  are  con- 
structed; these  are  woven  in  a  very  wonderful 
manner  of  various  vegetable  substances,  and  are 
objects  of  great  interest.     One  of  the  birds  stays 

^  Gilroy  on  Weaving. 


170  WEAVING 

inside,  the  other  outside,  and  the  outside  bird 
pushes  a  strip  of  grass  through  the  strands,  the 
bird  within  pushing  it  back  in  another  place ;  and 
so  they  weave  the  strip  out  and  in  till  the  baby's 
cradle  is  finished.  From  a  kindergarten  point  of 
view,  weaver  birds  might  be  said  to  have  origi- 
nated group  work  also,  as  some  of  the  species 
build  in  company,  each  contributing  something, 
the  whole  forming  an  umbrella-like  roof,  under 
which  the  nests  are  arranged  with  wonderful 
regularity. 

In  its  first  stages,  weaving  is  quite  difficult  for 
First  the  little  pupils.     It  is  not  an  occupa- 

weaving.  tiou  Suitable  for  babies,  and  sufficiently 
complicated  problems  can  be  devised  with  it  to 
occupy  a  child  twelve  or  fourteen  years  old.  The 
slat  interlacing  of  the  previous  occupation  is  an 
admirable  preparation  for  weaving,  and  the  slats 
are  used  for  learning  the  first  principles  of  the 
art.  For  this  purpose,  they  should  be  a  half 
inch  broad  (preferably  an  inch),  as  strong  and 
thick  as  they  can  be  found,  and  if  used  with 
oil -cloth  or  brown -paper  mats,  are  much  more 
attractive  if  colored.  These  heavy  mats  of  oil- 
cloth or  manilla  paper  are  easily  cut  out  by  the 
kindergartner,  and  are  used  merely  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  the  more  delicate  paper  weaving.  It  will 
be  a  great  help  to  the  child,  in  learning  to  raise 
and  depress  every  other  strip  with"  his  wooden 
slat,  if  these  are  painted  alternately  with  water 


WEAVING  111 

colors,  or  washed  with  ink,  in  some  bright  attrac- 
tive hue.  These  practice  mats  would  be  much 
more  durable  and  attractive  if  they  were  cut  from 
thin  leather,  or  bright  colored  morocco,  and  the 
expense  of  the  material  would  be  no  great  matter, 
as  they  would  last  long  enough  for  the  children 
of  several  successive  terms.  If  the  vivid  scarlet 
morocco  sometimes  used  for  babies'  shoes  were 
employed,  one  can  imagine  the  joy  of  weaving 
white  slats  in  and  out  of  the  bright  glossy  mat, 
and  if  the  fabric  was  found  too  light  it  might  be 
backed  with  heavy  unbleached  cloth  before  cut- 
ting. These  practice  mats  should  not  be  made 
too  large,  for  it  is  almost  as  discouraging  to  the 
child  to  see  a  vast  expanse  of  mat  laid  before  him 
and  to  be  expected  to  fill  it  with  slats  in  ten  min- 
utes, as  it  was  for  Graciosa  in  the  fairy  tale,  when 
she  had  the  room  full  of  myriad-colored  feathers  to 
sort  before  nightfall.  Although  these  first  mats 
should  be  small,  however,  the  strips  should  be  at 
least  a  half  inch  wide,  lest  they  cause  too  great  a 
strain  on  hand  and  eye  in  these  early  years.  Mrs. 
E.  L.  Hailmann  has  suggested,  for  this  practice 
weaving,  cords  or  tapes  stretched  lengthwise  of  a 
frame,  say  an  old  slate  frame,  into  which  could  be 
woven,  without  any  needles,  bright  colored  tapes 
running  the  other  way.^     The  wooden  slats  might 

1  Some  of  the  early  weavers  drew  the  weft  through  the  web 
with  their  fingers;  others  used  an  implement  like  a  knitting 
needle  with  a  hook  at  one  end. 


172  WEAVING 

also  be  woven  into  this  warp  made  of  cords,  and 
the  work  be  most  appropriate  for  the  younger 
children. 

Considerable  practice  is  needed  before  the  chil- 
dren fully  grasp  the  principle  of  passing  the  slat 
over  and  under  the  alternate  strips,  and  we  need 
here  all  the  helps  of  color  and  attractive  material, 
as  well  as  of  imagination,  lest  they  grow  discour- 
aged^ and  get  a  thorough  distaste  for  the  work. 
Songs  and  stories  are  necessary  here,  and  the  slat 
must  be  played  with  constantly,  and  the  work 
made  more  interesting  by  "  making  believe  "  that 
it  is  an  engine  steaming  under  archways,  or  a  dog 
with  his  nose  to  the  ground  following  a  trail,  or 
a  brook  playing  hide-and-seek  with  the  children, 
and  running  out  of  sight  and  then  emerging  sud- 
denly. The  bright  colored  paper  mats  and  the 
sMning  needle  which  are  to  follow  this  first  work, 
must  also  be  shown,  else  the  child  will  think  him- 
self a  modern  prototype  of  Sisyphus,  when  he 
is  confronted,  lesson  after  lesson,  with  the  heavy 
mat  which  is  never  finished,  and  which  he  never 
takes  home. 

But  having  conquered  the  practice  mat  and  its 
accompanying   slats,  the   field   is   not   yet   won, 

1  Homer's  description  of  Penelope  at  her  weaving  {Odyssey, 
XVII.)  very  well  fits  some  of  these  small  kindergarten  workers 
as  they  battle  with  their  difficult  mat  problems  :  — 

"Lowly  she  sat  and  with  dejected  view 
The  fleecy  threads  her  wary  fingers  drew." 


WEAVING  173 

although  victory  is  indeed  in  sight.  Before  a 
child  can  weave  in  even  his  first  strip  with  the 
long-desired  paper  mat,  a  certain  amount  of  deli- 
cacy of  touch  is  developed  in  simply  learning  to 
place  the  strip  in  the  needle,  without  tearing  or 
injuring  it.  "  Opening  the  mouth  "  of  the  needle, 
as  we  say  familiarly,  and  placing  the  strip  in  it 
successfully,  is  indeed  no  small  acquirement  for  a 
beginner,  especially  for  one  who  has  heretofore 
had  little  acquaintance  with  tools.  However, 
with  patience  on  the  part  of  both  kindergartner 
and  pupil,  even  this  great  feat  is  accomplished ; 
and  the  joy  displayed  later,  while  watching  beau- 
tiful designs  growing  under  tiny  fingers,  more 
than  compensates  for  this  and  all  other  labors. 

With  this  difficulty  overcome,  there  remains 
yet  to  be  practiced  the  management  of  Ambidexter- 
the  needle  with  the  right  hand,  while  weaving, 
the  left  manipulates  the  mat,  and  when  the  child 
is  more  advanced,  we  may  reverse  this  process, 
thus  giving  greater  development  to  the  left  hand. 
In  no  other  occupation  does  that  neglected  mem- 
ber play  a  more  important  part,  and  since  the 
aim  is  the  equal  and  constant  use  of  both  hands, 
weaving  must  satisfy  the  advocates  of  ambidex- 
terity, and  be  recognized  as  of  the  highest  edu- 
cational value.  Weaving  is  also  one  of  the  best 
tests  of  eye  measure.  The  child  who  possesses 
a  true  eye,  weaves  "  over  one  and  under  one,"  or 
"  over  two  and  under  two,"  as  the  case  may  be, 


174  WEAVING 

perhaps  without  knowing  the  number  o£  strips 
at  all,  simply  following  by  eye  the  strip  already 
woven.  Another  child  who  can  count  pretty  well, 
cannot  measure  distance  at  all,  but  while  it  is 
a  test,  it  will  also  tend  to  develop  an  accuracy 
of  eye  which  will  be  of  incalculable  value  in  all 
later  work. 

To  return  to  the  little  one  and  his  first  paper 
Weaving  as    mat  and  strips.     With  that  mat  comes 

cultivating  .1  •!•  twt  •    i    i 

the  Virtues,  a  ncw  responsibility.  No  material  has 
been  given  before  that  required  such  careful 
handling,  in  taking  from  and  returning  to  the  en- 
velope. The  child  feels  this  responsibility  and 
is  delighted.  To  be  sure,  he  usually  separates 
all  the  strips  at  first  (though  warned  not  to  do 
so),  but  as  the  mat  must  still  be  finished  with 
them,  crumpled  though  they  be,  he  realizes  that 
here  "  willful  waste  makes  woeful  want."  Here, 
too,  economy  is  taught,  for  when  he  tears  up,  or 
scatters  his  strips  over  the  floor,  he  soon  comes 
to  grief ;  lacking  the  material  needed  to  finish 
his  mat,  he  learns  to  be  more  careful,  half  uncon- 
sciously perceiving  the  connection  of  cause  and 
effect. 

Weaving  has  also  a  high  moral  value  if  judged 
by  St.  Paul's  words,  "Tribulation  maketh  pa- 
tience ;  and  patience,  experience  ;  and  expe- 
rience, hope."  Indeed,  when  inventions  are  at- 
tempted it  is  only  after  endless  patience  and 
various  experiments  that  one  attains  success,  and 


WEAVING  175 

in  this  very  fact  lies  the  danger  that  the  child 
may  become  so  discouraged  by  repeated  failures 
to  accomplish  his  design  that  he  will  lose  all 
desire  to  try  further. 

Besides  this  necessary  virtue  of  perseverance, 
industry,  too,  has  here  full  play ;  and  accuracy  is 
most  needfid,  for  one  mistake  in  the  introduction 
of  a  strip  is  very  apt  to  produce  error  through- 
out the  mat.  This  gives  admirable  opportunity 
for  a  moral  lesson  similar  to  that  drawn  from  the 
illustration  of  transmitted  motion  with  the  fourth 
gift,  and  there  is  ample  opportunity,  if  the  mis- 
take has  been  made  through  carelessness,  to  re- 
flect upon  the  error  of  one's  ways  while  taking- 
out  all  the  strips  and  putting  them  in  again. 

This  occupation  seems  to  further  develop  the 
child's  impressions  gained  from  sewing.  Form-teach- 
We  find  the  lines  and  angles  appearing  of  Life, 
again  as  old  friends,  though  clad  in  new  and  shin- 
ing garments.  The  bright  colored  strips  corre- 
spond to  the  worsted,  and  the  mats  to  the  cards, 
on  which  he  sewed  his  designs.  And  here  we 
see  another  illustration  of  the  wisdom  of  Froe- 
bel  in  ministering  to  the  child's  tastes.  He  has 
chosen  this  material,  as  in  all  other  cases,  from  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  early  love  for  bright 
objects,  —  the  natural  undefined  appreciation  of 
the  beautiful.  Weaving  is  not  especially  valuable 
for  teaching  form,  however.  It  introduces  added 
difficulties,  in  producing  forms  of  life,  because 


176  WEAVING     y 

of  the  absence  of  all  curved  lines,  and  this  diffi- 
culty tends  toward  the  danger  of  introducing  too 
few  of  them.  Some  authorities  argue  that  as 
the  occupation  is  really  not  well  adapted  to  the 
production  of  life  forms,  they  should  not  be 
attempted  at  all ;  but  a  great  source  of  pleasure 
to  the  children  would  be  lost  if  this  advice  were 
followed.  It  is,  of  course,  extremely  difficult  to 
make  life-like  figures  with  the  broad  strips  used 
by  the  youngest  children,  but  still  it  is  not  impos- 
sible of  accomplishment,  in  a  rough  sort  of  way, 
and  with  the  finer  mats  a  great  variety  of  forms 
can  be  produced,  any  simple  pattern  used  for 
Berlin  wool-work  being  suitable  for  the  purpose. 
No  one  who  has  seen  the  buildings,  furniture, 
clocks,  lamps,  vases,  flags,  leaves,  ships,  etc., 
made  with  the  finer  weaving  can  fail  to  acknow- 
ledge their  value,  even  though  they  must  all  be 
rectilinear  figures;  and  that  they  can  be  poetic 
also  is  abundantly  proven  by  the  little  mat  sent 
us  from  the  Empress'  kindergarten  in  Japan,  on 
which  is  woven  snow-covered  Fujiyama,  with  the 
white  moon  shining  down  upon  it. 

Since,  in  all  kindergarten  occupations,  we  seek 
Invention  in  *^  dcvclop  tlic  child's  crcativc  j^owcr,  let 
Weaving.  ^g  ^^^^  ^j^^  cffcct  of  wcaviug  upou  the 
inventive  ability.  The  development  brought 
about  in  all  the  various  things  which  are  taught 
by  this  occupation  :  color,  its  contrasts  and  har- 
mony, form,  distance,  and  direction,  and  the  en- 


WEAVING  177 

tirely  new  manipulation  of  material,  should  lead 
to  invention,  and  the  most  practical  results  be 
obtained.  Endless  designs  for  oil-cloths,  carpets, 
wall  paper,  tile  floors,  lace  curtains,  towels,  table 
linen,  etc.,  may  be  made  with  this  simple  mat  and 
strips  of  paper.  The  fact  is  that  in  weaving  the 
inventive  powers  of  pupil  and  teacher  also  are 
developed,  and  by  it,  in  apparent  play,  minds  and 
hands  are  practically  trained  as  they  could  not  be 
in  precisely  the  same  way  in  any  other  occu- 
pation. 

There  are  a  variety  of  ways  in  which  inven- 
tions are  made  in  weaving.  Sometimes  the  child 
marks  off  upon  his  squared  slate  or  paper  a  space 
equal  to  the  size  of  the  mat  he  is  to  use,  and 
there  makes  his  design,  which  he  afterwards 
copies  with  the  mat  and  strips  ;  sometimes  he 
uses  square  tablets  for  the  purpose  ^  and  lays  his 
pattern  upon  the  table  first,  —  and  both  these 
methods  are  valuable,  if  in  no  other  way,  for  the 
exercise  in  calculation  which  they  give.  Again, 
he  may  begin  directly  upon  the  mat  without  the 
intervention  of  any  other  material,  and  weave  out 
his  design  with  the  needle  and  strips.  If  he  in- 
vents anything  in  this  manner  at  first,  it  will 
generally  be  in  the  nature  of  a  "  lucky  hit,"  for 
though  he  intends  to  make  something,  he  has 
commonly  no  idea  what  it  is  to  be.  He  can  often 
make  very  charming  effects  in  these  first  experi- 

1  Republic  of  Childhood,  Vol.  I.,  Froebd's  Gijis,  page  137. 


178  WEAVING 

ments  if  he  puts  two  strips  in  his  needle  at  once, 
and  weaves  them  in  together  each  time,  pushing 
one  afterwards  to  the  bottom  of  the  mat  and  an- 
other to  the  top.  This  will  at  least  make  the 
pattern  symmetrical  and  often  produce  a  very- 
good  design.  The  inventions  need  not  only  de- 
pend upon  form  for  their  beauty,  but  also  upon 
effective  combinations  of  color.  There  are  two 
manilla  mats  which  come  in  every  package  of 
weaving  which  are  most  useful  for  invention,  as 
the  heavy  paper  is  not  as  easily  crumpled  by  the 
repeated  efforts  of  the  young  experimenter,  and 
if  we  give  him  with  these  mats  a  box  of  strips, 
which  are  the  "  left-overs "  of  many  terms  of 
weaving,  he  will  often  produce  a  "  rainbow  "  mat 
which  will  be  a  veritable  feast  of  color.  Strips 
of  different  widths  may  appropriately  be  used  for 
many  of  the  inventions,  and  so  serve  the  double 
purpose  of  using  economically  all  materials  and 
adding  variety  to  design. 

It  is  very  useful  now  and  then  with  the  older 
Dictation  in  children  to  dictate  a  simple  pattern  in 
Weaving.  wcaviug.  Whcu  they  understand  the 
principle  on  which  the  occupation  rests,  and  are 
familiar  with  the  simple  numbers,  they  can  follow 
directions  quite  readily.  Dr.  W.  N.  Hailmann 
says  in  this  regard  :  ^  "  I  cannot  dismiss  the  occu- 
pation of  weaving  without  pointing  out  the  great 
value  of  occasional  exercises  in  dictation,  —  direct- 

1  W.  N.  Hailmann,  Kindergarten  Culture,  page  100. 


WEAVING  179 

ing  a  small  group  of  children  in  terse  language 
how  many  strips  of  the  warp  are  to  be  succes- 
sively raised  or  depressed.  .  .  .  Such  exercises 
will  enhance  the  power  of  the  child  to  work  con- 
sciously and  directly  to  a  fixed  purpose  ;  but  I 
add  again,  that  they  should  be  occasional  exer- 
cises, and  must  not  be  allowed  to  drown  seK- 
activity."  Before  the  child  can  follow  a  dictation 
successfully  his  attention  must  be  called  to  the 
margin  surrounding  the  mat,  and  he  must  be  led 
to  see  that  it  is  simply  a  frame  like  a  picture  or 
slate  frame,  that  the  needle  is  invariably  to  be 
slipped  under  it  when  weaving  in  a  strip,  and 
that  it  is  not  to  be  counted  at  all  when  following 
numerical  directions.  Sometimes  in  dictation,  if 
a  figure  or  design  having  a  centre  is  to  be  made, 
we  begin  in  the  middle  and  give  directions  for 
one  half  the  pattern,  letting  the  child  finish  it 
himself.  If  it  is  a  design  involving  a  series  of 
repetitions,  we  dictate  only  a  sufficient  number  of 
strips  to  give  the  idea  to  the  child,  and  then  leave 
him  to  work  it  out. 

The  law  of  the  connection  of  contrasts  comes 
forcibly  to  the  surface,  as  usual,  in  this  connection 

Til  .  ,        of  Con- 

occupation.  In  color  the  pattern  is  only  trasts. 
brought  out  by  the  reconciliation  of  contrasting 
hues,  the  mat  being  sometimes  the  harmonizing 
influence  between  strips  of  opposing  colors,  and 
then  again  being  contrasted  in  color  with  one 
set  of  strips,  while  another  brings  them  into  re- 


180  WEAVING 

lation.  Every  figure  and  design  in  weaving,  if 
the  element  of  form  be  under  consideration,  is 
brought  about  by  the  connection  of  opposites, 
the  figure  in  one  row  being  transposed  into  an 
opposite  position  in  the  next.  The  contrasts 
of  over  and  under  are  united  in  every  mat,  and 
each  strip  is  kept  in  place  by  weaving,  the  one 
below  it  in  a  different  manner.  Thus,  in  the 
simple  pattern  of  over  three,  under  one,  the  first 
strip  is  run  in,  over  three  strips  and  under  one, 
all  across  the  mat,  but  the  second  is  woven  under 
three,  over  one,  and  the  two  together  make  the 
pattern. 

It  is  well  to  use,  for  the  first  paper  mats,  those 
Broad  and  having  regularly  alternated  broad  and 
Mats.  narrow   strips.     Before   the    child    has 

sufficient  powers  of  calculation  to  master  over 
one  and  under  one,  he  may  be  asked  to  pick  up 
all  the  wide  strips  on  his  needle  and  leave  the 
narrow  ones ;  in  the  next  journey  across  taking 
up  the  narrow  and  leaving  the  wide.  A  certain 
kind  of  mats  is  now  manufactured  cut  in  alter- 
nate wide  strips  and  groups  of  very  narrow  ones, 
two,  three,  or  five  in  a  group.  Beautiful  patterns 
may  be  made  by  simply  weaving  over  one  and 
under  one,  and  an  entirely  different  design  in  one 
mat  is  made  by  passing  the  needle  over  all  the 
broad  strips,  from  another  mat  in  which  the  needle 
has  been  passed  under  them.  There  are  other 
mats,  which  are  graded  from  narrow  on  the  sides 


WEAVING  181 

to  wide  in  the  centre,  and  vice  versa^  strips  being 
cut  accordingly.  These  mats  are  useful  for  occa- 
sional introduction,  and  give  fresh  enthusiasm  to 
a  discouraged  child,  perhaps,  but  the  criticism  on 
them  might  be  that  the  effort  is  not  commensurate 
with  the  effect,  the  pattern  being  beautiful,  while 
no  skill  is  needed  to  produce  it.  These  mats  do 
nothing  whatever  towards  the  development  of  in- 
ventive ability,  their  only  purpose  being  to  incul- 
cate thoroughly  the  principle  of  "  over  one  and 
under  one."  They  are  more  artificial  than  Froe- 
bel's  original  material,  and  demand  less  from  the 
child. 

Mathematically  considered,  weaving  seems  one 
of  the  most  perfect  systems  that  could  Number 
have  been  devised  for  teaching  children  weaving, 
to  count  and  to  calculate.  Words  are  nothing 
to  a  child ;  it  is  what  he  sees  and  what  he  does 
that  he  remembers.  He  may  be  told  a  hundred 
times  that  "  two  and  two  are  four,"  and  he  may 
even  learn  to  repeat  it,  —  but  had  it  been  an- 
nounced that  "two  and  two  were  five"  he  would 
have  given  the  statement  the  same  credence.  But 
when  he  can  realize  number  "  corporeally,"  so  to 
speak,  the  impression  is  a  mind-picture,  and  has 
become  lasting.  And  since  number  is  inherent 
in  this  occupation,  it  is  impossible  to  use  it  and 
exclude  the  science  of  numbers,  thus  making  weav- 
ing of  more  value  mathematically  than  any  other 
occupation.     We  have  here  the  means  for  teach- 


182  WEAVING 

ing  the  elements  of  arithmetic,  as  in  paper  fold- 
ing we  teach  the  elements  of  geometry.  First,  we 
have  the  unit,  "  over  one,  under  one,"  then  ''  over 
two,  under  two,"  and  so  on,  thus  giving  very  good 
exercise  in  counting,  and  furnishing,  as  Koehler 
says,  "  an  orderly  series  of  object  lessons  on  the 
first  few  numbers."  When  the  mats  of  simple 
principles  have  been  woven,  the  combinations  of 
numbers  included  in  them  is  easy  to  the  child. 
The  mat  becomes  his  slate,  or  blackboard,  on 
which  he  weaves  out  his  tables  in  addition,  sub- 
traction, and  multiplication,  or  simple  problems, 
the  strip  "  over  two  "  meaning  as  much  to  him  as 
the  figure  "  two  "  to  a  child  in  the  primary  school. 
The  mental  training  in  calculation,  which  this  com- 
bining of  numbers  gives,  is  invaluable.  Weaving 
may  be  considered,  too,  as  bearing  the  same  rela- 
tion to  number  lessons  with  the  gifts  that  draw- 
ing does  to  the  laying  of  forms  in  sticks  and 
rings,  being  more  abstract  than  counting  with 
the  blocks,  and  less  abstract  than  figuring.  The 
numerical  progression  in  the  ordinary  "  school " 
of  weaving  ^  is,  first,  simple  numbers,  —  over  and 
under  one,  two,  three,  and  four  strips ;  then  com- 
binations of  numbers,  two  and  one^ three  and  one, 
four  and  one,  two  and   three,   three   and   four, 

^  Froebel's  School  of  Weaving'  is  to  be  found  in  all  the  kin- 
dergarten "  Guides,"  and  a  great  variety  of  colored  plates,  illus- 
trating designs  for  the  occupation,  may  be  had  of  any  kinder- 
garten supply  store. 


WEAVING  183 

etc. ;  then  numbers  woven  in  a  diagonal  direc- 
tion, familiarly  called  ''  steps  ;  "  then  patterns  in 
repetition  and  alternation,  and  so  on  through  de- 
signs for  oil-cloths  and  tile  floors,  borders  and 
symmetrical  figures,  all  built  on  the  most  exact 
arithmetical  foundation. 

The  school  of  weaving  is  always  to  be  varied, 
of   course,  by  the   introduction   of  life 
forms,  and  opportunity  is  frequently  to  Forms, 
be  sriven  for  invention.     Here,  too,  as  and  Group' 

.  .  Work. 

in  aU  the  kindergarten  handiwork,  we 
must  often  encourage  the  working  together  for  a 
common  purpose.  The  kindergartner  may,  per- 
haps, prepare  a  large  mat,  and  a  number  of  chil- 
dren weave  it  into  a  carpet  for  the  dolPs  house ; 
a  class  of  little  ones  may  weave  a  number  of  small 
mats,  and  make  a  large  invention  of  them  to 
mount  on  cardboard  and  hang  on  the  wall ;  a 
series  of  weavings  of  appropriate  coloring  and 
design  may  be  used  as  a  border  to  the  black- 
board, —  and  so  on :  it  matters  not  so  much  for 
what  purpose  they  are  made,  as  that  each  child 
shall  be  enabled,  now  and  then,  to  use  his  labors 
for  some  end  which  shall  be  for  the  good  of 
others. 

Weaving  gives  the  child  an  understanding  of 
various   industries   now  performed   by  industrial 
machinery,  and  acquaints  him  with  pro-  weaving, 
cesses  employed  in  the  production  of  many  arti- 
cles, thereby  relating  him  to  much  that  surrounds 


184  WEAVING 

him.  It  supplies  material  for  creation,  it  devel- 
ops the  perceptive  faculties,  sharpens  the  sense 
of  color,  and  gives  pleasure  and  profit  to  chil- 
dren of  widely  differing  ages.  Not  the  least 
among  its  values  is  that  the  finished  work  may- 
be made  up  in  so  many  pretty  and  useful  ways  to 
serve  as  little  gifts.  The  mats  may  be  cut  from 
morocco,  leatherette,  cardboard,  or  ivorine,  and 
woven  with  strips  of  silk,  velvet  or  ribbon,  and 
thus  serve  for  blotters,  calendars,  portfolios,  box 
covers,  handkerchief  cases,  lamp  mats,  and  cornu- 
copias. These  are  all  trifling  things  enough  in 
one  sense ;  but  in  another,  nothing  is  trifling 
which  the  child  makes  with  an  honest,  loving 
purpose,  and  as  carefully  and  artistically  as  his 
powers  admit.  "  In  the  Paris  kindergarten  work," 
says  an  observer,^  "  the  idea  of  decoration  is  made 
inseparable  from  that  of  completion.  The  high- 
est use  includes  beauty  in  all  work.  The  weaving 
is  not  so  much  with  paper  as  with  worsted,  which 
is  a  more  useful  material  and  admits  more  easily 
of  decoration.  A  little  woven  square  of  colored 
worsted  may  serve  as  a  mat  or  a  holder,  and  a 
combination  of  squares  can  be  used  as  a  cover  for 
table,  bed,  etc. ;  each  piece  may  be  decorated  in 
harmonious  colors  and  designs  or  in  portions  of 
one  large  design.  All  manual  training  is  relieved 
of  its  purely  industrial  aspect  by  the  artistic  im- 
pulse of  the  French  people." 

^  Mrs.  Louisa  Parsons  Hopkins. 


WEAVING  185 

Weaving  may  be  made  of  considerable  value 
in  the  school,  though  it  must  be  so  man-  leaving  in 
aged  as  not  to  require  much  previous  ^^^^^'^o^'i- 
preparation  from  the  unfortunate  teacher  who 
has  seventy  children  in  her  sole  charge.  Mrs. 
E.  L.  Hailmann  has  devised  some  small  mats 
on  which  arithmetical  problems  may  be  quickly 
woven  out,  and  which  are  thus  well  fitted  for  the 
school;  and  if  the  patterns  are  woven  as  they 
should  be,  so  that  the  strips  do  not  slip  about,  but 
remain  firmly  in  place,  it  is  an  easy  matter  for 
the  children  themselves  to  clip  the  ends  and  gum 
the  edges  of  the  mat  down  upon  them.  Here, 
too,  dictations^  are  especially  valuable  and  easily 
carried  out,  and  the  occasional  copying  of  a  sym- 
metrical figure  or  form  of  life  from  the  black- 
board might  be  allowed ;  ^  while  for  the  older 
children,  some  written  problem  might  be  set. 
This  might  be,  for  instance :  Weave  three  dif- 
ferent designs  suitable  for  towel  borders  across 
your  mat;  make  an  appropriate  design  for  an 
oil-cloth  ;  weave  a  pattern  showing  two  figures  in 
alternation  which  could  be  used  for  wall-paper ; 
show  me  upon  your  mat  the  various  ways  in 
which  the  number  ten  may  be  produced  by  addi- 
tion. 

Letters  and  numbers  may  easily  be  woven  upon 
the  mats,  but  this  would  be  of  no  especial  value, 

^  Diagrams  for  Primary  School  Weaving  may  be  had  of  the 
Milton  Bradley  Co. 


186  WEAVING 

save  as  an  exercise  in  ingenuity  and  in  illustrat- 
ing the  capabilities  of  the  occupation.  The  mats 
may  also  be  woven  by  the  older  children  in  the 
standard  patterns  used  in  cane  weaving,  and  thus 
serve  as  an  explanation  of  that  industry.  There 
is  a  variety  of  the  work,  called  Freehand  Weav- 
ing, which  is  a  union  of  this  occupation  and 
paper  interlacing,  and  which  is  very  useful  in  the 
school,  as  it  includes  measuring,  cutting,  folding, 
and  weaving,  as  well  as  practice  in  combinations 
of  color.^  All  the  forms  produced  are  definite 
finished  objects,  as  napkin  rings,  picture  frames, 
book-marks,  baskets,  etc.,  and  thus  the  work,  in 
its  relation  to  later  industry,  resembles  Slojd. 

Weaving,  when  considered  as  a  primitive  occu- 
stories,  pation,  related  to  the  industries  of  ani- 
oSAof  mals,  offers  a  delightful  field  for  stories. 
Weaving.  rpj^^  marvclous  homcs  and  webs  that 
the  spiders  make  may  be  illustrated,  and  the  in- 
cident related  of  gallant  Robert  Bruce  and  the 
lesson  the  spider  taught  him.  Then  we  may  tell 
that  sweetest  of  "  Together  "  stories  (translated 
from  the  German),  "  How  the  Little  Boy  got  a 
New  Shirt,"  and  we  may  revel  to  our  heart's  con- 
tent in  tales  of  wonderful  birds'  nests  built  in 
wonderful  places.  We  should  always  have  a  col- 
lection of  nests  in  the  kindergarten  to  show  the 
children,  carefully  explaining,  of  course,  that  they 

1  Manuals  for  Freehand  Weaving  may  be  obtained  from  E. 
L.  KeUogg  &  Co. 


WEAVING  187 

were  not  taken  until  the  parent  birds  had  moved 
out  of  their  homes  and  the  little  ones  had  grown 
up  and  flown  away.  What  child  would  not  have 
more  patience  with  his  weaving  when  he  had  seen 
the  tiny  round  nest  of  the  humming-bird,  lined 
with  the  down  from  the  cottonwood,  the  wonder- 
ful deep  hanging  pocket  the  oriole  makes,  or  the 
sparrow's  cosy  cradle  of  moss  and  hay  and  hair. 
And  suppose,  while  the  children  reverently  exam- 
ine these  wonderful  products  of  love  and  wisdom, 
we  recite  to  them  "  The  Child  and  the  World,"  i 
or  Mary  Howitt's  poem,  "  The  Sparrow's  Nest," 
which  tells  so  sympathetically  of  that  dwelling 
"large  enough  for  five," 

"  Neat,  warm,  and  snug ;  with  comfort  stored." 

Who  would  be  cruel  to  the  birds  in  boyhood  when 
his  baby  years  had  been  filled  with  such  tender 
thoughts !  Miss  Poulsson's  "  In  the  Child's 
World  "  contains  many  helpful  suggestions  as  to 
the  weaver  and  his  work  (pages  407-412),  and 
also  abundant  material  for  birds' -nest  stories 
(pages  292-301). 

When  we  come  to  songs  and  games,  we  have 
scores  to  choose  from,  which  tell  of  birds  and 
nest-weaving,  for  bird  life,  its  sweet  content,  its 
joy,  its  tenderness,  its  freedom,  and  aspiration, 
lie  close  to  the  kindergarten  heart.  Then  we 
have  spider  games  ^  which  show  the  making  of 

1  Kate  D.  Wiggin  and  Nora  A.  Smith,  The  Story  Hour. 

2  "The  Spider  and  the  Flies,"  in  Kindergarten  Chimes,  by 
Kate  D.  Wiggin. 


188  WEAVING 

the  web,  and  weaving  games,  one  of  which  I  ap- 
pend, on  account  of  its  particular  usefulness. 

"  First  choose  a  row  of  children  for  threads  of 
the  warp,  standing  at  such  a  distance  from  each 
other  that  a  child  may  pass  easily  between  them. 
Second,  choose  a  child  (or  children)  for  thread  of 
woof,  who  at  the  third  line  of  the  verse  begins  to 
pass  before  the  first  in  the  row,  behind  the  second 
one,  before  the  third,  etc. ;  after  weaving  through 
the  line,  taking  his  place  at  the  end. 

"  The  threads  of  the  warp  and  woof  change  to 
children  again,  sing,  and  clap  in  time." 

But  we  have  yet  to  view  the  occupation  of 
Artistic        weaviuff    in    its   artistic   aspect.      The 

Value  of  IP  '  •  1 

Weaving.  great  cud  01  art  is  to  give  pleasure. 
The  eye  and  the  ear  are  the  chief  avenues  of 
artistic  delight,  and  have  the  power  of  protract- 
ing enjoyment  without  fatigue.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  artists  strive  so  earnestly  towards 
the  gratification  of  these  two  senses.  Among  the 
susceptibilities  touched  by  artistic  arrangement, 
may  be  noticed  the  sense  of  unity,  arising  when  a 
great  number  of  things  are  brought  under  a  com- 
prehensive design,  as  in  weaving ;  the  practical, 
arithmetical,  and  artistic  making  an  easily  appre- 
hended whole,  out  of  a  numerous  host  of  particu- 
lars. Besides  being  a  source  of  pleasure,  art  has 
an  elevating  and  refining  influence  on  the  mind 
and  character,  for  there  is  an  inseparable  connec- 
tion between  the  beautiful  and  the  good.     Obser- 


WEAVING  189 

vation  teaches  that  the  full  use  of  our  senses  is 
only  to  be  acquired  by  suitable  training.  How 
fully  this  training  is  effected  in  the  gifts  and 
occupations  of  Froebel,  only  those  initiated  can 
appreciate  and  understand.  Weaving,  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  and  useful  of  his  occupations,  de- 
velops the  eye  and  the  hand,  the  memory,  imagi- 
nation, and  calculative  powers,  —  all  affecting  the 
child's  after  life,  be  he  artist  or  artisan.  But  con- 
sidering it  specifically,  as  to  its  artistic  value, 
Froebel  says,  "  The  beautiful  is  the  best  means  of 
education  for  the  human  race."  We  know  the 
perfection  reached  by  the  human  race  in  art  has 
been  developed  from  simple  elements  as  a  foun- 
dation, so  "  the  child  must  have  the  elements  of 
the  beautiful,  before  he  can  comprehend  it  in  its 
whole  extent." 

In  the  kindergarten  occupations  we  have  won- 
derfully devised  means  of  teaching  the  coiorTeacu- 
elements  or  art,  weaving  being  not  the  mg. 
least  valuable ;  for  it  may  be  made  most  artis- 
tic in  color  and  design.  And  this  brings  up  the 
most  striking  characteristic  of  the  occupation, 
—  its  color,  which  was  briefly  touched  upon  in 
the  beginning  of  this  chapter.  A  child  craves 
color  as  he  craves  sunlight  and  fresh  air,  and  in 
weaving  he  is  feasted  with  it.  But  though  he 
admires,  naturally,  the  bright  hues  and  their  rich 
effects,  he  does  not  understand  that  all  bright 
colors  do  not,  when  combined,  produce  these  rich 


190  WEAVING 

effects,  and  that  subdued  tints  are  just  as  neces- 
sary as  the  brighter  ones.  The  occupation  will 
be  especially  beneficial  to  him,  and  he  will  learn 
to  harmonize  colors  more  successfully,  if  he  is  al- 
lowed —  with  occasional  suggestions  from  the  kin- 
dergartner  —  to  choose  his  own  materials.  The 
combination  of  color  in  this  occupation  sets  it 
aside  from  all  others,  for  in  nothing  else  is  com- 
bining color  an  absolute  necessity,  while  the  effect 
of  the  repetition  of  a  figure  either  occurring  in 
straight  lines  or  alternating,  as  in  the  transposi- 
tions, for  covering  a  surface,  is  a  marked  feature. 

There  has  been  of  late  some  question  among 
biologists  as  to  whether,  at  the  kindergarten 
period  of  the  child's  life,  when  the  brain  is  de- 
veloping so  rapidly,  it  is  wise  to  give  such  strong 
stimuli  as  we  provide  for  the  color-sense  (in  weav- 
ing, for  instance),  when  we  lay  before  the  little 
one  all  the  riches  of  the  modern  color-market.  It 
is  best,  perhaps,  to  think  of  the  matter  seriously, 
though  so  far  as  our  experience  goes,  there  have 
been  as  yet  no  evil  results  from  the  practice. 

There  is  a  possibility,  however,  that  if  we  cen- 
tred the  child's  attention  too  much  upon  match- 
ing, classifying,  and  harmonizing  colors,  to  the 
partial  exclusion  of  form-work,  and  if  we  con- 
tinued this  through  the  primary  school,  we  might 
lead  the  child,  as  Dr.  Harris  says,^  into  "  habits 
of  impertinent  and  trifling  attention  to  elements 
^  B,€port  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen,  page  17. 


WEAVING  191 

employed  as  material  or  texture,  and  a  corre- 
sponding neglect  of  the  structural  form  which 
alone  is  the  work  of  the  artist.  ...  A  child  over- 
trained to  analyze  and  classify  colors  —  examples 
of  this  one  finds  occasionally  in  a  primary  school 
whose  specialty  is  "  objective  teaching  "  —  might 
in  later  life  visit  an  art  gallery  and  make  an  in- 
ventory of  colors  without  getting  even  a  glimpse 
of  a  painting  as  a  work  of  art." 

Although  we  may  consider  this  occupation 
under  three  heads,  namely,  practical,  use  and 
mathematical,  and  artistic,  there  can  be  Handiwork. 
no  sharp  line  drawn  between  use  and  beauty,  — 
one  to  begin  where  the  other  ends ;  but  they  must 
so  blend  as  to  make  a  perfect  whole.  There  is 
no  occupation  or  calling  in  life  that  would  not 
be  ennobled  and  raised  to  a  higher  level  by  artis- 
tic influence.  In  nothing  need  beauty  detract 
from  use,  —  in  God's  creation  we  do  not  see  them 
widely  separated,  but  rather,  going  hand  in  hand. 


PAPER  CUTTING 

Materials  :  Squares,  equilateral  triangles,  and  circles  of  white 
or  colored  paper,  four  inches  in  diameter ;  blunt-pointed  scis- 
sors ;  mucilage  or  paste ;  a  camel's-hair  brush  or  small  pointed 
stick,  and  a  cloth  for  pressing. 

"Almost  invariably,"  says  Herbert  Spencer, 
Cutting  a  "children  show  a  strong  tendency  to 
nSnctof  cut  out  things  in  paper,  to  make,  to 
Children.  ^^jj^ .  ^  propensity  which,  if  duly  en- 
couraged and  directed,  will  not  only  prepare  the 
way  for  scientific  conceptions,  but  will  develop 
those  powers  of  manipulation  in  which  most  peo- 
ple are  so  deficient."  The  baby  of  three  months 
delights  to  tear  papers,  attracted  as  much,  per- 
haps, by  the  sharp,  ripping  sound  and  the  rustle 
of  the  falling  fragments  as  by  the  sense  of  his 
mastery  over  material,  and  the  fancy  that  he  is 
doing  something  of  great  difficulty  and  value. 
Some  children  who  have  a  strong  inherited  sense 
of  form  are  early  able  to  tear  forms  from  paper 
which  are  easily  recognizable,  but  when  the  con- 
structive instinct  is  thus  far  developed,  the  use  of 
the  scissors  is  commonly  ardently  desired.  "  The 
instinct  of  imitation,"  as  Perez  says,  "so  active 
in  all  young  animals,  conduces  to  the  rapid  de- 


PAPER   CUTTING  193 

velopment  of  this  hereditary  faculty,"  for  every 
child  daily  sees  his  mother  or  nurse  cutting  some- 
thing, and  is  fascinated  by  the  movement  of  the 
bright  scissors,  the  sound  of  the  sharp  steel  blades 
as  they  clash  against  each  other,  and  the  rapidity 
of  the  effect  produced.  The  fascination  is  over- 
mastering, —  he  will  and  must  have  the  scissors  ; 
and  as,  if  the  desire  is  balked,  he  commonly  ob- 
tains them  surreptitiously  and  commits  all  sorts  of 
vandalisms,  it  is  wisest  to  give  him  something  to 
cut,  and  thus  make  the  enjoyment  legitimate  and 
above-board.  The  instinctive  mother  has  satisfied 
the  child's  love  of  cut  forms  ever  since  scissors 
and  paper  were  first  invented,  and  who  does  not 
remember  sitting  at  mother's  knee  and  watching 
her  cut  out  houses  and  furniture,  and  rude  ani- 
mals, and,  most  wonderful  of  all,  strings  of  moon- 
faced dolls,  with  balloon-like  skirts  and  tiny  feet 
set  at  right  angles  to  each  other,  —  all  holding 
hands  and  evidently  tripping  through  a  sort  of 
stately  rhythmic  da!ice  ? 

At  about  the  third  year,  however,  the  child 
wants  to  do  the  cutting  himself,  and  the  thought- 
ful mother  supplies  him  with  newspaper,  or  cheap 
brown  paper,  and  blunt  scissors,  and  lets  him  ex- 
periment in  her  presence,  it  being  fully  under- 
stood in  the  beginning  that  the  young  experi- 
menter is  to  pick  up  all  the  scraps  from  the 
carpet  when  he  tires  of  the  play.  After  he  has 
handled  the  scissors  a  little,  and  can  cut  in  a 


194  PAPEB   CUTTING 

tolerably  straight  line,  he  may  be  provided  with 
simple  pictures,  advertisements,  etc.,  from  maga- 
zines, or  newspapers  (really  good  subjects  only 
being  provided),  and  allowed  to  cut  these  out  and 
paste  them  in  scrap  books,  assorting  them  accord- 
ing to  some  preconceived  plan. 

Many  children  will  now  delight  in  free   cut- 
ting, smooth  white  or  colored  paper  being 
Occupation    providcd  for  this  purpose,  but  there  is 

suitable  for  .»^  .  ,  .,.        . 

all  Ages  and  great  diiierence  in  ability  m  resrard  to 

Conditions.      °  .    .         .  *'  .  P 

the  originating  oi  lorms  in  this  man- 
ner. Preyer  mentions  a  child  who,  in  his  fourth 
year,  without  instruction,  could  cut  animals  out 
of  paper  with  the  scissors  (giraffes,  greyhounds, 
horses,  lions,  camels,  fishes)  so  that  everybody 
recognized  them  at  once.  Such  a  talent,  however, 
if  it  be  a  talent,  and  not  an  indication  of  positive 
genius,  is  very  rare  indeed,  and  in  our  experience 
with  many  hundred  little  children  has  only  been 
shown  by  one  in  any  marked  degree.  All  chil- 
dren, however,  when  old  enough,  even  if  they  have 
no  talent  for  originating  forms,  will  delight  in 
picture  cutting,  and  also  in  cutting  paper  dolls 
and  their  voluminous  wardrobes.  Deaf-mute  chil- 
dren are  found  to  take  particular  pleasure  in  the 
occupation,  and  early  become  proficient  in  it,  if 
at  all  encouraged ;  and  any  small  sufferer,  who  is 
long  confined  in  bed,  will  find  cutting  his  best 
defense  against  fatigue  and  monotony.  The 
universal  interest  in  silhouettes,  and  the  pleasure 


PAPER  CUTTING  195 

that  grown  people  frequently  find  in  making 
them,  is  only  a  proof  that  the  childish  passion  for 
cutting  has  not  been  altogether  outgrown. 

Cutting  seems  to  be  a  union  of  the  occupations 
of  clipping,  pasting,  folding,  and  draw-  cutting  a 
ing,  three  or  four  of  these  processes  S?cup^^ 
being  necessary  to  most  of  the  more  '*°°** 
elaborate  forms  produced.  Did  we  allow  the 
child  to  go  on  as  the  infant  does  at  first,  simply 
cutting  the  paper  into  pieces,  we  should  merely 
be  gratifying  his  powers  of  analysis  and  destruc- 
tion. The  synthetic  and  constructive  processes, 
however,  are  quite  as  valuable,  and  as  "  all  sepa- 
ration exists,"  as  Froebel  says,  "  for  the  sake  of 
union,"  we  early  give  the  child  opportunity  to 
unite  the  cut  pieces  into  a  complete  form.  Gold- 
ammer  says  in  this  regard : ^  "It  is  true  that  the 
desire  to  separate  is  observed  in  children  much 
more  frequently,  and  in  a  much  higher  degree, 
than  the  desire  to  reunite.  But  this  observation  is 
only  partially  correct.  A  child  separates  earlier, 
destroys  earlier,  because  this  is  the  easier  opera- 
tion of  the  two,  and  because  nature  has  sufficiently 
provided  him  with  instruments  for  doing  it,  even 
when  artificial  instruments,  such  as  knives  and 
scissors,  are  kept  out  of  his  reach.  But  to  re- 
unite things  he  requires  some  artificial  bind- 
ing material,  and  this  is  seldom  at  hand.  .  .  . 
To  the  instinct  for  reuniting  things  we  direct 
1  Herman  Goldammer,  The  Kindergarten,  Part  II.,  page  129. 


196  PAPER   CUTTING 

less  attention,  because  it  does  not  force  itself 
upon  our  notice  in  the  same  unpleasant  and 
occasionally  very  expensive  manner.  .  .  .  Ordi- 
narily, nothing  is  done  to  aid  this  natural  ten- 
dency of  childhood,  to  help  the  child  in  his 
endeavors.  .  .  .  Therefore  it  was  that  Froebel 
endeavored  to  satisfy,  as  early  as  possible,  the 
desire  of  children  to  reunite  things  separated." 

Cutting  has  been  one  of  the  neglected  occupa- 
Cutting  tions  in  too  many  kindergartens,  partly 
dergarten.  bccausc  the  rulcd  paper  sometimes  used 
for  it  has  been  thought  too  expensive,  and  also 
because  it  is  supposed  to  need  much  oversight 
for  its  successful  performance.  The  squares  hav- 
ing triangles  on  one  side,  crossed  in  lines  as  a 
guide  to  the  eye  in  cutting,  are  expensive,  it  is 
true,  but  we  may  alternate  their  use  with  squares 
of  plain  paper,  by  which  just  as  desirable  results 
can  be  obtained. 

The  argument  that  the  possession  of  scissors  in 
the  school-room  will  lead  the  child  to  acts  of  law- 
less destruction  at  home  seems  to  have  little  foun- 
dation. The  child  who  is  forming  good  habits, 
and  learning  day  by  day  to  employ  his  activities 
happily  and  rationally,  may  be  inclined,  indeed,  to 
use  at  home  the  tools  with  which  he  gains  so  much 
pleasure  at  school ;  but  he  will  be  likely,  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten,  to  use  them  with  care  and  dis- 
cretion. We  must  remember,  also,  that  blunt- 
pointed  scissors  are  used  for  kindergarten  cutting. 


PAPER  CUTTING  197 

reducing  to  a  minimum  the  danger  of  their  deal- 
ing out  death  and  destruction ;  that  the  kinder- 
gartner  is  never  absent  from  the  little  group 
making  use  of  them,  and  that,  last  of  all,  children 
who  are  appropriately  and  busily  employed  have 
little  desire  or  leisure  to  use  their  tools  as  imple- 
ments of  warfare.  "  To  teach  the  proper  use  of 
such  instruments  is  the  best  means  to  prevent 
their  being  used  improperly,"  and  the  child  who 
has  learned  how  to  cut  something  really  pretty 
and  interesting  from  bits  of  paper,  is  much  more 
likely  to  use  the  scissors  at  home  for  that  pur- 
pose, than  for  clipping  the  baby's  curls,  the  cat's 
whiskers,  or  cutting  holes  in  mother's  apron. 

The  square  will  not  be  a  new  form  to  the  child 
when  first  introduced  for  cutting,  for  Preliminary 
he  will  often  have  drawn  it  and  laid  it  tion. 
with  sticks,  and  will  be  familiar  with  the  faces 
of  the  cube,  while  he  has  already  folded  the  paper 
square  into  some  simple  life  form.  It  is  always 
best,  however,  to  give  a  bit  of  a  review  in  a  play- 
ful way,  in  order  to  be  assured  that  each  child 
knows  and  can  point  out  the  right  hand  front 
corner,  the  left  hand  back  corner,  the  front  edge, 
the  back  edge,  etc.,  for  any  mistake  in  the  di- 
rections based  upon  these  terms  wiU  in  cutting, 
even  more  than  in  folding,  bring  irretrievable 
disaster.  The  material,  too,  needs  an  explana- 
tory word,  though  the  children  have  handled  it 
before  in  folding,  sewing,  drawing,  and  pricking. 


198  PAPER   CUTTING 

Perhaps  some  little  one  is  now  developed  enough 
to  tell  us  where  Mistress  Wasp,  the  first  paper- 
maker,  gets  the  materials  for  her  work  and  with 
what  pretty  artifice  she  uses  it.  And  how  does 
the  rag  picker  help  us,  and  what  have  the  cotton 
plant  and  the  little  blue-eyed  flax  done  for  the 
paper  cutting  ?  Ah  !  and  here  are  the  scissors  I 
Where  did  they  come  from?  .  .  .  and  before 
that  ?  .  .  .  and  before  that  ?  I  wonder  who 
could  find  me  a  piece  of  iron  in  the  cabinet. 
And  so  on,  .  .  .  not  enough  to  weary ;  .  .  .  just 
a  word  here  and  there,  till  at  last  the  children 
silently  think,  as  one  of  them  indeed  said  one  day, 
with  serious  face  and  wagging  head,  "  It  takes  a 
much  of  helpers  to  get  these  little  things." 

If  the  children  have  had  in  the  nursery  such 
First  Exer-  ©xcrciscs  with  the  scissors  as  have  been 
cises.  indicated,  they  will  be  quite  ready  in 

the  kindergarten  to  do  very  beautiful  work  with 
a  little  guidance.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however, 
one  frequently  finds  only  two  or  three  out  of  a 
dozen  five-year-old  children  who  have  the  least 
idea  even  of  holding  the  scissors.  Girls  gener- 
ally understand  the  work  better  than  boys,  the 
latter  often  regarding  the  scissors  with  a  dubious 
interest,  as  they  might  some  wild  creature  which 
was  most  attractive,  and  yet  might  be  suspected 
of  a  desire  to  bite. 

For  such  novices  a  good  deal  of  preliminary 
cutting  is  necessary  before  they  can  follow  a  deli- 


PAPER  CUTTING  199 

cate  line,  and  we  often  let  them  experiment  at 
first  in  making  fringe  for  the  paper  shawl  they 
have  folded,  or  for  bordering  the  curtains  in  the 
doll -house.  Subsequently  they  can  cut  out  the 
simple  geometrical  figures  which  they  have  traced 
in  outline  drawing  and  arrange  and  paste  them  in 
a  group-work  design,  and  after  this  they  can  fold 
and  cut  by  dictation  and  be  trusted  to  calculate 
what  will  be  profitable  experiments  in  invention. 
It  is  better  to  use  larger  paper  for  this  first  cut- 
ting, and  indeed  the  ordinary  size  of  the  squares 
(4x4  inches)  is  not  at  all  arbitrary,  and  can  be 
doubled,  if  thought  desirable.  The  practice  paper, 
too,  should  be  a  little  heavier  than  that  commonly 
used,  for  the  child  usually  holds  his  scissors  at 
first  with  a  tense  grip  like  that  of  a  drowning 
man,  and  needs  something  tangible  between  the 
blades  to  exert  his  strength  upon. 

The  regular  Froebel  School  of  cutting,  in  sym- 
metrical forms,  may  be  begun  when  the  ^^^^^^^^  ^^ 
child  has  attained  some  dexterity.  The  ^""''^^f' 
plain  squares  may  be  folded  so  as  to  obtain  eight 
triangles  one  above  another,  the  open  side,  the 
one  on  which  all  the  surfaces  are  unconnected, 
remaining  always  at  the  left;  then  with  a  card 
for  ruler  the  child  can  draw  a  line  from  the  right 
angle  down  to  the  middle  of  the  lower  edge,  one 
or  two  spaces  to  right  or  left,  and  so  on.  White 
and  colored  papers  may  also  be  bought  with  ruled 
diameters,  and  one  triangle  ready  crossed  in  lines 


200  PAPER   CUTTING 

as  a  guide  to  the  eye.  The  first  cuts  will  be  made 
according  to  the  suggestion  of  the  kindergart- 
ner,  and  later  on  the  child  may  work  out  his 
own  ideas.  The  cuttings  having  been  made,  he 
can  make  his  own  disposition  of  the  pieces,  using 
them  all  in  some  original  design.  He  may  first 
experiment  by  pasting  them  on  larger  squares  of 
brown  paper,  and  when  he  acquires  sufficient  dex- 
terity, may  paste  them  on  cards,  appropriate  col- 
ored paper,  or  in  his  book  of  school  work. 

After  the  first  few  cuttings,  we  would  advise 
leaving  the  children  very  much  to  their  own 
devices,  providing  they  have  been  so  trained  that 
we  can  trust  to  their  using  all  materials  wisely 
and  economically,  at  least,  if  not  artistically.  If 
we  carry  them  through  the  whole  sequence  of  cuts 
before  allowing  them  to  invent,  they  may  well 
doubt  if  more  worlds  are  left  to  conquer. 

The  first  cuttings  of  the  square  may  be  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

1.  Vertically  through  centre  of  triangle. 

2.  One  space  to  right. 

3.  One  space  to  left. 

4.  Both  sides  of  centre. 

5.  Centre  and  both  sides. 

6.  Centre  and  two  spaces  to  right  and  left. 

7.  Through  centre  horizontally. 

8.  One  space  above  centre. 

9.  One  space  below  centre. 

10.  One  space  above  and  below  centre. 


PAPER  CUTTING  201 

11.  Centre,  also  above  and  below. 

12.  One  or  two  oblique  cuts. 

13.  Greater  number  of  oblique  cuts. 

14.  Combinations  of  vertical  and  oblique  cuts. 

15.  Combinations  of  horizontal  and  oblique 
cuts. 

16.  One  or  two  curved  cuts. 

17.  Combinations  of  curved  cuts. 

The  equilateral  triangle  is  also  used  as  a 
ground-form  for  cutting,  being  folded  into  six 
smaller  equilaterals,  one  laid  upon  the  other. 
The  forms  produced  are  exceedingly  pretty  and 
arrange  themselves  naturally  into  figures  resem- 
bling the  triangle,  hexagon,  and  dodecagon  in 
general  outline.  With  the  triangle,  as  with  the 
square  and  circle,  we  follow  the  same  course  of 
lines  as  in  linear  drawing,  —  first  the  vertical, 
then  the  horizontal,  the  oblique,  the  curve.^  The 
child,  however,  would  be  a  graybeard  before  he 
left  the  kindergarten,  if  he  were  detained  there 
long  enough  to  execute  the  prescribed  schools  of 
cutting  with  these  three  ground-forms ;  and  not 
only  so,  but  he  would  lose  the  exercise  of  his  free 
creative  activity,  which,  as  Matthew  Arnold  says, 
"  is  the  highest  function  of  man ;  and  is  proved 
to  be  so  by  man's  finding  in  it  his  true  happi- 


^  Complete  series  of  directions  for  the  Froebel  School  of  cut- 
ting with  the  square,  triangle,  and  circle,  may  be  foimd  in  the 
various  Kindergarten  Guides. 


202  PAPER   CUTTING 

Dr.  W.  N.  Hailmann  long  ago  sounded  a  few 
notes  of  warning  to  the  kindergartner  as  to  the 
use  and  abuse  of  "  Schools  "  of  work,  and  they 
are  given  here,  because  the  need  for  them  has  not 
yet  passed  away.  "  Make  yourself  thorough  mas- 
ters of  the  schools  of  work  ;  "  he  says,  "  artists  in 
them ;  but  at  the  same  time,  do  not  forget  that 
they  are  means,  and  do  not  transform  them  into 
ends.  The  physical,  mental,  and  moral  growth 
of  the  child  is  the  end  ;  his  physical,  mental,  and 
moral  vigor  and  soundness  are  the  criteria  of 
your  work.  Fair  work  is  thinkable  without  a 
knowledge  of  '  schools ; '  bad  work  is  not  un- 
common with  a  perfect  knowledge  of  them.  The 
kindergartner  who  makes  '  schools '  the  end  of 
her  work,  has  ceased  to  be  a  kindergartner,  and 
has  become  a  .sc^oo^-teacher  in  every  sense  of  the 
word.  She  has  been  seized  by  the  machinery, 
and  has  become  a  part  of  it.  She  is  aiding  in 
the  downfall  of  the  kindergarten,  preparing  for  it 
the  fate  of  object-teaching." 

It  was  Froebel's  invariable  rule  that  in  the 
Using  all  series  of  symmetrical  figures  all  the 
the  Pieces,  pjeccs  cut  f rom  cach  ground  -  form 
should  be  employed  in  the  design  into  which  it 
is  subsequently  made.  This  rule  was  based,  in 
his  opinion,  on  two  principles ;  first  on  that  of 
unity  or  connectedness,  binding  into  a  whole  by 
a  synthetic  process  all  the  scattered  elements 
produced  by  analysis,  and    showing  their  inter- 


PAPER   CUTTING  203 

relation,  their  absolute  need,  each  of  the  other. 
Nothing  must  be  left  outside,  isolated,  without 
the  magic  circle,  for 

"  All  are  needed  by  each  one, 
Nothing  is  fair  or  good  alone." 

All  through  the  occupations,  all  through  the 
gifts,  all  through  the  games  and  songs  runs  this 
thought  of  Froebel's,  and  in  the  "Mutter  und 
Kose-Lieder  "  shines  still  more  clearly  this  "  line 
of  golden  light."  ^  Is  this  too  great  a  truth  to 
teach  with  blocks  and  bits  of  paper  ?  Ah,  but  so 
we  learn,  through  the  little  things,  —  so  we  "  plant 
for  eternity,  into  the  deep  infinite  faculties  of 
man,  his  fantasy  and  heart." 

Another  reason  for  using  all  the  pieces  in  cut- 
ting is  the  wise,  economical  employment  of  all 
material,  a  lesson  which  has  such  especial  value 
here  in  America,  and  the  need  for  which  is  so 
painfully  evident  that  a  word  on  the  subject  is 
more  than  enough.  As  against  these  two  good 
reasons  for  using  all  the  pieces,  comes  the  plaint 
of  the  artist  that  so  we  disfigure  the  beautiful 
form  that  is  frequently  produced  in  cutting,  —  a 
clear,  simple,  graceful  outline,  which  would  be 
entirely  disfigured  if  we  pasted  around  it  all  the 
remaining  pieces ;  and  that  to  ruin  a  design  for 

1  "  And  so,  dear  mother,  weave  these  little  plays 
Which  have  beguiled  your  baby's  happy  days. 
Many  in  one  he  sees ;  and  through  the  maze 
Of  his  young  mind  a  great  truth  sends  its  rays." 

(Henrietta  R.  Eliot.) 


204  PAPER   CUTTING 

the  sake  of  using  all  the  material  is  poor  economy 
and  worse  art.  There  is  evidently  much  weight 
in  these  arguments  also,  and  there  are  as  many 
prominent  kindergartners  and  training  schools 
who  adopt  the  artist's  view  of  the  matter,  as  there 
are  of  those  who  hold  to  the  earlier  opinion  ad- 
vanced by  Froebel. 

When  we  begin  upon  the  occupation  of  paper 
Practical  Cutting,  and  while  the  children  are  ex- 
Directions.  pgrimenting  with  the  practice  paper,  it 
is  important  to  teach  them  to  hold  the  scissors 
easily  and  comfortably.  "  Bi  cutting  long  lines 
the  scissors  should  be  opened  wide,  so  that  the 
entire  length  may  be  cut  at  one  time.  In  cutting 
curved  lines  the  scissors  and  paper  should  ap- 
proach each  other  equally,  both  describing  the 
curve.  In  cutting  around  small  curves  into  small 
places,  it  will  be  found  necessary  to  use  the  points 
of  the  scissors  with  very  short  cuts."  Of  course 
the  child  will  learn  all  these  things  by  experience, 
but  Madam  Experience  keeps  a  very  dear  school, 
as  Franklin  tells  us,  and  it  is  the  office  of  the 
kindergartner  to  save  the  child  from  some  of  the 
errors  which  he  would  make  if  left  to  blunder 
along  alone.  When  the  cutting  has  been  done  in 
these  symmetrical  forms,  the  child  carefully  un- 
folds his  central  figure  and  smooths  it  out,  after- 
wards opening  the  smaller  pieces  and  arranging 
the  design.  If  there  is  not  time  to  fold,  draw, 
cut,  and  paste  in  one  exercise,  each  child  may  lay 


PAPER   CUTTING  205 

his  pieces  away  in  an  envelope  until  next  lesson, 
as  Froebel  used  to  do  with  his  little  ones. 

There  are  various  opinions  as  to  the  kind  of 
adhesive  matter  to  be  employed  in  paper  cutting, 
some  kindergartners  recommending  flour,  or  corn- 
starch, some  ordinary  mucilage,  and  some  gum 
tragacanth.  The  last-named  substance  makes  a 
useful  paste,  because  it  leaves  no  stain  on  the 
delicate-tinted  paper,  an  offense  which  gum-arabic 
is  very  likely  to  commit.  Two  children  may  have 
a  small  dish  of  paste  between  them,  and,  if  pro- 
vided with  camel's-hair  brushes,  are  less  likely  to 
put  it  on  with  that  lavish  generosity  which  is 
wont  to  distinguish  their  use  of  the  common 
mucilage  brush.  They  must  be  taught,  too,  not 
to  cover  the  pieces  as  thickly  with  paste  and  stick 
them  down  as  tightly  as  if  they  were  to  meet  the 
stress  of  winter  and  rough  weather,  but  only  to 
touch  the  centre  of  the  figures  lightly  with  the 
brush  and  leave  the  edges  free. 

The  color  of  the  background  on  which  the  de- 
signs are  pasted  is  a  matter  for  consideration,  and 
it  is  most  interesting  and  profitable  for  the  chil- 
dren to  allow  them  to  experiment  with  back- 
grounds, —  pasting  a  group-work  design,  for  in- 
stance, first  on  a  sheet  of  black  cardboard,  then  a 
similar  one  on  white,  and  finally  on  gray,  that  the 
difference  in  effect  may  be  noted.  A  background 
of  gray,  or  light  chocolate,  is  now  generally  con- 
sidered preferable  for  all  cuttings. 


206  PAPER   CUTTING 

It  is  the  practice  in  some  kindergartens  always 
to  mount,  upon  the  same  sheet  as  the  design,  a 
folded  paper  (either  square,  triangle,  or  circle), 
having  the  same  lines  traced  upon  it  as  were  cut 
in  making  the  figure.  This  renders  it  possible 
always  to  reproduce  the  cutting,  which  is  very 
desirable  if  it  is  a  particularly  pleasing  one ;  and 
also  makes  clearer  to  the  child  the  processes  of 
his  success. 

Froebel's  interest  and  proficiency  in  the  science 
Relation  of  ^^  Crystallography  are  clearly  reflected 
c?ystafia  i^  paper  cutting,  and  he  makes  the  rela- 
graphy.  ^-^^^  morc  cvidcut  in  his  dissertations  on 
the  subject  in  the  "Education  of  Man."  The 
various  forms  produced  in  the  series  of  forms  of 
beauty  naturally  classify  themselves  into  three, 
four,  six,  and  twelve-sided  figures,  and  often  quite 
perfect  representations  of  the  fibrous,  radiate, 
leafy,  laminated,  and  membranous  crystals  fall 
from  the  shining  scissors.  The  delight  of  the 
unexpected  waits  upon  the  scissor-work,  for  com- 
monly in  free  cutting  we  have  but  the  vaguest 
idea  of  what  we  are  going  to  make,  and  when  the 
cut  form  proves  beautiful,  we  experience  a  sur- 
prise and  pleasure  like  that  when  a  fresh  turn  of 
the  kaleidoscope  brings  a  new  crystalline  dance  to 
view. 

Those  "  lilies  of  the  sky,"  the  snow-flakes,  can 
be  as  easily  cut  as  the  "lilies  of  the  rocks,"  and 
older  children  and  kindergarten  students  often 


PAPER   CUTTING  207 

reproduce  a  series  of  the  very  beautiful  and  per- 
fect forms  into  which  these  crystals  naturally 
divide  themselves. 

Cardboard  modeling,  in  its  various  processes  of 
drawing,  folding,  cutting,  and  pasting,  is  an  off- 
shoot from  the  occupation  of  paper  cutting,  and, 
in  its  representation  of  the  solid  geometric  forms, 
again  shows  the  close  relation  of  the  work  to 
crystallography. 

A  much  more  practiced  hand  is  required  in 
making  life   forms  than  is  needed  for 

1        p   11        •  11*  •  Life  Forms. 

Simply  lollowmg  tbe  Imes,  or  cutting 
according  to  fancy,  which  is  all  that  is  required 
in  the  forms  of  beauty.  Still  we  early  cut  in  the 
kindergarten  large,  simple  figures,  such  as  balls, 
eggs,  fruits  without  stems,  vegetables,  simple 
leaves,  outlines  of  boats,  houses,  etc.,  which  pre- 
sent no  intricate  details,  and  are  not  absolutely 
ruined,  even  if  the  unwary  scissors  should  slip 
and  cut  off  a  quarter  inch  too  much  in  some 
places.  When  the  little  artist  is  more  experienced 
he  can  cut  out  any  object  which  he  has  previ- 
ously outlined,  unruled  paper  of  any  appropriate 
color  being  used  for  the  purpose  and  no  folding 
being  required.  He  can  thus  connect  the  work 
with  the  subject  which  is  temporarily  occupying 
his  thoughts,  and  so  forge  another  link  in  the 
chain  of  impressions.  He  may  also  fold  the  paper 
down  the  middle,  and  cut  only  the  half  of  an  ob- 
ject, which  being  unfolded  appears  as  a  whole. 


208  PAPER   CUTTING 

Dolls,  fruits,  leaves,  parasols,  fir-trees,  houses,  may- 
be made  in  this  manner,  and  as  the  work  is  gen- 
erally freehand,  it  gives  valuable  assistance  in 
making  the  two  sides  of  the  figure  alike. 

The  freehand  cutting,  as  far  as  life  forms  are 
Freehand  concemcd,  is  vcrj  rudc  at  first,  and  the 
Cutting.  ^^-j^  -g  frequently  obliged  to  interpret 
his  work  even  to  the  experienced  and  imaginative 
kiAdergartner  at  his  side.  When,  however,  we 
are  tempted  to  grow  discouraged  with  the  crudity 
of  the  forms,  we  can  refresh  our  souls  with  Froe- 
bel's  words  in  the  Mother-Play  :  — 

"  The  things  a  child  can  make 
May  crude  and  worthless  be  ; 
It  is  his  impulse  to  create 
Should  gladden  thee !  " 

Should  we  compare  the  majority  of  the  life 
forms  cut  in  freehand  work,  even  by  our  older 
school-children  in  America,  we  should  have  cause 
to  blush  for  them  when  contrasted  with  the  exqui- 
site, graceful,  artistic  figures,  which  the  Japanese 
kindergarten  baby  of  five  or  six  years  produces. 
When  we  gaze  upon  the  cherry-blossoms  float- 
ing on  running  water,  the  fleur-de-lis  growing 
up  from  the  marsh  amid  its  tall  green  leaves,  the 
purple  aster  and  the  many-petaled  chrysanthe- 
mum waving  across  the  page  with  their  own  free 
gesture,  and  the  fantailed  goldfish  gasping  and 
undulating  down  among  the  sea-weeds,  we  are 
minded  to  devote  to  the  waste-basket  the  clumsy 


PAPER   CUTTING  209 

efforts  of  Jack  and  Isaac  and  Mikey  and  Adolph 
and  Hans.  And  yet  the  free  productions  of  one 
child  are  just  as  valuable  as  those  of  another, 
when  we  reflect  that  the  purpose  of  both  is  to 
make  "  the  inward  outward  and  the  outward  in- 
ward," and  the  immense  superiority  of  the  free 
work  of  Japanese  children  may  well  teach  us  a 
useful  lesson  of  the  value  of  heredity  in  art,  and 
remind  us  of  the  centuries  of  patient,  unrewarded 
labor  —  art  for  art's  sake  —  which  lie  behind  this 
dear  brown-skinned,  black-eyed  little  brother. 

There  is  a  series  of  freehand  cuttings  based  on 
geometric  form,  which  is  used  in  some  kinder- 
gartens, and  from  which  admirable  results  are 
obtained.     The  first  step  is  spirals. 

"  Taking  a  square  of  paper,  we  cut  into  it  one 
half  inch  from  the  edge,  then  follow  out  a  spiral 
curve,  cutting  ever  closer  and  closer  to  the  cen- 
tre, until  the  entire  sheet  is  one  spiral  thread  of 
paper.  If  the  children  are  too  young  to  make  a 
'  snail,'  as  they  caU  it,  it  wiU  afford  them  no  small 
interest  or  profit  to  watch  the  kindergartner, 
with  steady  hand,  cut  on  and  on.  Taking  an- 
other square,  we  cut  in  this  a  continuous  series  of 
squares  within  squares,  never  breaking  the  thread 
until  the  centre  is  reached.  As  in  the  effort  to 
pare  a  whole  apple  without  breaking  the  paring,  so 
here  great  skill  and  foresight  are  demanded.  The 
second  step  is  that  of  cutting  simple  life  forms, 
in  which  the  underlying  figures  of  circle,  oval, 


210  PAPEB   CUTTING 

square,  triangle,  or  oblong  are  modified  by  some 
outer  addition,  such  as  the  apple,  other  fruits,  etc. 
Both  the  form  cut  and  the  background  from 
which  it  has  been  taken  should  be  kept  and  pasted 
side  by  side  in  a  scrapbook.  The  third  step  is 
the  modification  of  these  forms  within  the  set 
geometric  outline,  such  as  a  house  front  with 
windows  and  doors,  or  a  hemisphere  which  out- 
lines the  continents. 

"  The  fourth  step  is  that  of  artistic  designs,  — 
such  as  snow-flakes,  floral  or  historic  art  forms.  A 
series  in  this  department  may  be  developed  from 
the  seaweeds  and  ferns,  which  present  such  an 
unlimited  variety  of  fancy  traceries.  One  little 
lame  girl,  who  began  her  simple  '  scissoring '  in 
the  kindergarten,  developed  such  skill  that  in 
after  years  she  was  able  to  support  herself  by  the 
artistic  forms  she  created,  which  were  purchased 
by  the  city  confectioners.  Another  unique  artist 
cuts  at  a  glance  exquisite  silhouettes  of  any  face 
brought  before  him.  The  scissors,  like  the  pen- 
cil, can  become  the  tool  for  artistic  work,  with 
practice."  ^ 

The  value  of  paper  cutting  in  the  school,  for 
Paper  Cut-     P^eomctric   work,   for   the   making   and 

ting  in  the       °  .  .      ,      ,      .  , 

School.  mounting  oi  symmetrical  designs  and 
life  forms  is  at  once  evident,  and  with  drawing 
and  modeling  is  one  of  the  popular  kindergarten 
occupations  among  most  teachers.  Much  less  pre- 
^    Kindergarten  Magazine,  September  and  October,  1893. 


PAPER   CUTTING  211 

liminary  drill  in  handling  the  scissors  is  necessary 
with  school  children,  and  as  the  work  needs  no 
previous  arrangement  and  no  subsequent  putting 
in  order,  and  as  much  of  it  can  be  done  with  only 
occasional  supervision,  it  should  be  even  more 
popular  than  it  is.  All  the  Froebel  paper  cutting 
is  perfectly  appropriate  and  practical,  but  in  many 
schools  (and  kindergartens  also),  it  is  largely 
superseded  by  the  so-called  colored  paper  work. 
This  is  preceded  by  the  study  of  the  spectrum, 
of  the  various  tints  and  shades  of  the  primary 
colors,  and  cutting  and  pasting  these  in  appropri- 
ate succession  and  by  practice  in  design  with  cir- 
cular, square,  oblong,  and  triangular  tablets.  It 
develops  into  the  making  of  borders  showing  the 
principles  of  repetition,  alternation,  etc.,  in  form, 
as  well  as  color  and  position,  the  making  of  geo- 
metric figures,  stars,  and  rosettes,  the  evolution 
of  units  and  their  application  in  design,  and  the 
study  and  production  of  the  historic  forms  of 
ornament.  In  its  elementary  stages,  it  is  very 
suitable  and  beautiful  for  kindergarten  work,  but 
it  may  be  developed  into  an  occupation  appropri- 
ate for  the  art  school,  both  in  its  relation  to  form- 
study  and  in  its  practical  illustration  of  color  con- 
trasts and  harmonies. 

So  much  has  already  been  said  in  an  incidental 
way  as  to  the  values  of  paper  cuttinof,  vaiues  of 

.1.1  -1  1       1        1     •    n  ,      1     Paper  Cut- 

that  they  need  only  be  briefly  touched  ting. 

upon  here.    Chief  among  them  is  the  early  oppor- 


212  PAPER   CUTTING 

tunity  it  gives  for  the  exercise  of  creative  self- 
activity,^  an  instinct,  which,  if  denied  legitimate 
expression,  voices  itself  in  destruction.  It  is  a 
great  assistance  in  form-work,  teaching  by  simple 
concrete  means,  all  lines,  angles,  rectilinear  and 
curvilinear  figures  ;  it  serves  to  still  further  im- 
press the  practical  worth  of  the  law  of  mediation 
of  contrasts  ;  it  gives  valuable  training  to  hand 
and  eye,  and  mastery  over  tool  and  material ;  it 
opens  a  broad  field  for  design,  leading  up  to 
artistic  productions  and  beautiful  ornaments  ;  it 
is  a  useful  mode  of  illustrating  stories  and  lessons, 
and  teaches  carefulness  and  accuracy,  and  wise 
use  of  material.  Lastly,  when  we  consider  its 
industrial  value,  it  paves  the  way  to  the  cutting 
j)ut  of  garments,  and  to  designs  for  house  deco- 
ration and  various  other  branches  of  industry. 

"In  the  library  of  the  Children's  Building-  at  the  World's 
/air  were  hung  several  framed  pictures  which  were  made  with 
iieither  pencil  nor  brush.  They  were  the  original  work  of  an 
energ"etic  boy  of  ten  years,  whose  genius  demanded  a  sturdier 
instrument  than  either  of  these.  His  mother's  scissors  had  early 
attracted  his  attention,  and  by  continued  and  repeated  effort  he 
developed  the  art  of  picture  making-  with  these  tools.  He  was 
not  satisfied  with  merely  cutting-  pictures  of  still  life,  but  he 
must  tell  a  story  about  things.  One  of  these  pictures  told  the 
story  of  the  fairies  coming  at  midnight  to  dance  among  the  flow- 

1  "  Creative  imagination,"  says  Father  Girard,  "  shows  itself 
at  a  very  tender  age  ;  for  if  the  little  child  likes  to  give  proof  of 
his  strength  by  destroying,  he  also  delights  in  producing,  after 
his  own  fashion,  things  new  and  beautiful."  —  De  V Enseignement 
Eegulier  de  la  Langue  Maternelle,  Liv.  III.  page  88. 


PAPER   CUTTING  213 

ers.  The  boy  took  a  large  sheet  of  white  glazed  paper,  cutting 
into  it  a  design  which  expressed  his  mental  picture  of  the  dan- 
cing fairies  and  the  swaying,  growing,  blooming  plant  life.  The 
action  and  the  character  of  the  entire  scene  was  unmistakably 
the  result  of  creative  power.  The  boy  dared  to  work  out  the 
fancy  of  fairy  tale  with  the  scissors,  and  succeeded  in  producing 
a  beautiful  picture.  The  delicate  white  tracery  was  laid  over  a 
scarlet  background  which  threw  into  relief  every  tiny  petal  and 
every  graceful  outline  of  the  dancing  figures.  .  .  .  This  original 
boy  wrote  the  lines  of  a  patriotic  hymn  in  the  same  manner  with 
his  clever  scissors,  accompanying  the  lettered  words  with  sugges- 
tive illustrations.  The  word  "  light "  was  not  only  traced  in 
delicate  letters  cut  into  the  paper,  but  each  letter  was  illumi- 
nated with  realistic  designs.  Over  the  entire  word  hung  a  sun, 
with  its  rays  reaching  to  each  letter.  The  initial  letters  of  each 
line  were  decorated  in  such  a  way  as  to  indicate  the  meaning  of 
the  entire  line.  No  description  of  the  work  can  do  it  justice,  as 
there  was  a  delicacy  and  grace,  as  well  as  strength  and  beauty 
in  it,  which  commanded  admiration."  —  Kindergarten  Magazine, 
October,  1894. 


PAPER  FOLDING 

Materials  :  Squares,  triangles,  and  circles  (usually  four  inches 
in  diameter)  of  engine-colored,  glazed,  and  coated  papers,  dyed 
in  all  colors,  shades,  and  tints.  Oblongs  and  hexagons  are  also 
sometimes  used. 

Paper  has  long  been  so  cheap  and  abundant  a 
Paper  Fold-  fabric  that  f or  many  years  mothers  have 
Mode?n*  used  it  to  delight  their  children.  In  the 
Occupation.  £>^gj.^  winter  evenings,  before  the  days 
of  the  useful  (and  ugly)  match,  our  grandmo- 
thers folded  dainty  lamplighters,  under  the  watch- 
ful eyes  of  an  admiring  little  group,  and  when 
the  pretty  work  was  over,  marvelous  paper  boats 
and  boxes  and  windmills  were  fashioned  for  the 
expectant  audience. 

Many  times  in  the  quiet  home-life  of  the  Ger- 
man peasant,  Froebel  with  that  all-inclusive  gaze 
of  his  saw  parents  and  children  united  in  this  sim- 
ple art,  and  noticed  the  unfailing  delight  which 
it  evoked,  and  since  his  desire  was,  as  he  says,  to 
attain  the  universal  elements  of  proper  work  for 
childhood,  he  gathered  this  flower  also  to  twine 
into  the  garland  of  kindergarten  occupations. 
Cheap  and  simple  are  the  materials  which  these 
employ,  and  yet  so  "frugal  is  the  chariot  that 
bears  the  human  soul  "  that  a  mere  valueless  bit 


PAPER  FOLDING  215 

of  folded  paper  may  prove  a  "  prancing  courser  " 
to  bear  us  "  lands  away." 

"  There  are  indeed  great  ways  of  borrowing," 
as  Emerson  says,  and  when  Froebel  took  his 
means  of  occupation  from  the  home-life  of  the 
common  people,  he  proved  himself  one  of  those 
geniuses  that  "  borrow  nobly." 

In  Folding  we  again  make  use  of  the  material 
which  forms  the  basis  of  most  of  our  Materials  of 
kindergarten  occupations,  and  the  only  *'°^^™8- 
limit  to  the  talks  and  poems  and  stories  on  the 
subject  will  be  the  time  at  our  disposal  and  the 
interest  of  the  children. 

For  the  smaller  pupils  we  have  stories  of  the 
Cotton  Field,  of  the  Rag-picker,  and  the  Wasp, 
and  questions  as  to  the  common  uses  of  paper  ; 
for  the  older  we  have  graphic  descriptions  of  its 
manufacture,  and  talks  about  the  different  ma- 
terials from  which  it  is,  and  has  been,  made,  as 
reeds,  skins,  rags,  sawdust,  wood-pulp,  bark, 
straw,  and  rice,  while  all  ages  will  enjoy  Ander- 
sen's "  Story  of  the  Flax  "  and  Mary  Howitt's 
sweet  verses  about  the  "  goodly  Flax  Flower." 

School-children  will  delight  in  brief  accounts 
of  the  present  strange  uses  of  paper  which  mark 
our  own  as  the  paper  age.  There  are  paper 
dresses,  paper  dishes,  paper  hats  and  bonnets, 
paper  trunks  and  horseshoes,  paper  vases,  tubs, 
and  pails  and  baskets  and  satchels  to  be  bought ; 
and  if  these  employments  of  so  fragile  a  material 


216  PAPER  FOLDING 

are  not  astonishing  enough,  we  can  cap  them  by 
true  tales  of  paper  car-wheels,  rails,  sewer-pipes, 
cornices,  friezes,  tiles,  mantels,  entire  houses  even, 
—  and  also  tell  of  a  substance  called  papier-sculp- 
tor, which  is  frequently  used  in  Germany  instead 
of  clay  for  modeling. 

The  occupation  of  Folding,  though  one  of  the 
First  Exer-  most  artistic  and  valuable  which  Froe- 
Foiding*^  bel  has  given  us,  is,  at  the  same  time. 
Papers.  ^^^  ^£  ^^^  uiost  dclicatc  and  difficult,  re- 
quiring perfect  eye  measure  and  great  accuracy  of 
touch  for  its  proper  performance ;  indeed  these  are 
two  of  the  greatest  advantages  gained  by  its  exe- 
cution. The  dictations  should  not  be  given  to  the 
child  until  he  is  able,  in  some  degree,  to  follow 
them  with  tolerable  neatness,  else  he  will  grow 
discouraged  and  careless,  losing  his  pleasure  in 
what  is,  invariably,  a  delightful  occupation,  if 
given  at  the  proper  stage  of  the  child's  develop- 
ment. If  we  wish  to  use  it  with  the  younger  chil- 
dren, as  it  is  so  helpful  to  eye  and  fingers,  we  must 
make  it  play  and  not  work.  The  practice  forms 
may  be  cut  from  brown  paper,  so  that  the  fail- 
ures of  the  little  people  will  not  be  too  expensive, 
and  the  forms  should  not  be  less  than  five  inches 
in  diameter  for  these  preliminary  exercises.  We 
begin  with  the  square  commonly,  and  although 
there  must  be  a  little  drill  on  its  shape  and  color, 
its  edges  and  corners,  yet  this  must  all  be  given 
at  first  in  the  form  of  play. 


PAPER  FOLDING  217 

It  is  well  to  accustom  the  child  to  select  his 
own  color  from  the  first,  expressing  his  prefer- 
ence in  words,  and  either  taking  the  paper  from 
a  sheaf  which  we  hold  before  him,  or  when  older, 
asking  that  it  be  selected  from  the  box.  There 
is  no  need  of  allowing  even  the  four-year-old  child 
to  point  silently  at  what  he  wants,  unless  he  be 
a  deaf-mute,  for  even  if  he  does  not  know  the 
color  he  can  very  easily  touch  the  paper,  and  say, 
"  Please  give  me  that  square."  Occasionally  the 
kindergartner  desires  for  some  special  reason  that 
all  the  papers  shall  be  alike,  and  occasionally, 
too,  there  is  not  enough  of  the  desired  color  to 
go  around,  which  casualty  gives  opportunity  for 
graceful  surrender  of  preference  in  favor  of  some 
one  else.  We  may  be  well  assured,  however, 
that  we  give  little  training  in  color  when  we  hand 
out  the  papers  in  regular  rotation,  and  that  the 
boasted  development  of  individuality  in  the  kin- 
dergarten is  not  attained  by  treating  every  child 
alike. 

It  is  a  pretty  and  a  useful  exercise  at  first  to 
scatter  the  squares  on  a  low  table,  and  then, 
having  given  out  the  balls  according  to  prefer- 
ence, let  each  little  one  select  a  paper  to  match. 
Corners  may  be  taught  by  playing  Puss-in-the- 
Corner,  and  if  a  tiny  pasteboard  pussy  is  given 
to  each  child,  he  will  be  very  ready  to  let  her  run 
to  the  right  hand  back,  the  left  hand  front  corner, 
etc.     Edges  may  be  taught  by  considering  the 


218  PAPER  FOLDING 

square  a  table-cloth  and  letting  the  children 
fringe  it  with  scissors,  and  if  we  wish  to  distin- 
guish the  different  edges,  what  so  easy  as  to  set 
the  table  and  put  Harry's  blue  plate  (a  colored 
circle)  near  the  front  edge,  mother's  pink  plate 
near  the  left  edge,  and  so  on  ?  Each  fold  which 
the  child  makes  in  the  square  at  first  should  open 
up  a  new  play-possibility,  and  thus  by  and  by, 
when  the  preliminary  handling  and  a  few  crude 
notions  of  dictation  have  been  learned,  he  will 
have  grown  so  in  love  with  the  work  that  he  will 
follow  difficult  directions  with  delight,  and  take 
pleasure  in  the  wide  field  of  geometrical  know- 
ledge which  opens  before  him. 

Let  us  play  to-day,  when  we  have  had  a  little 
Folding  ^^^^  about  the  shape  of  the  square,  its 
^^*^'  corners,  edges,  etc.,  that  it  is  a  sheet  of 

paper,  and  we  are  going  to  use  it  for  a  letter  to 
mother.  Yes,  we  will  all  have  pencils,  and  how 
shall  we  begin  it,  .  .  .  and  what  shall  we  tell 
her  ?  Don't  write  too  heavily,  little  ones !  If 
it 's  very  nicely  done,  I  '11  fold  an  envelope  for 
each  one,  and  you  can  tuck  in  the  letter  and  put 
a  kiss  on  for  a  stamp.  That  will  carry  it  safely, 
I  am  sure. 

Or  perhaps  it  is  a  sheet  of  drawing  paper,  and 
will  you  all  draw  me  a  pretty  picture?  .  .  .  (Now 
you  shall  see  intent  eyes,  gathered  brows,  pursed- 
up  lips,  stern  holding  of  the  pencil,  and  marvel- 
ous  hieroglyphic   scratches  and  cryptograms  in- 


PAPER  FOLDING  219 

scribed  upon  the  paper.).  .  .  .  That  was  very 
kmd  of  you,  and  now  you  shall  watch  me  tie 
them  all  together  with  a  bit  of  worsted,  and  put 
a  cover  on,  .  .  .  and  now,  see !  .  .  .  I  have  a 
picture  book  to  look  at  when  I  'm  tired. 

The  next  week  after  the  preliminary  talk,  we 
fold  the  lower  ed^e  of  the  paper  to  the 

-  -    °  11  First  Fold. 

upper  edge,  and  now  we  nave  made  one 
line  upon  its  surface.  .  .  .  Take  it  up  in  your 
hands,  children,  now,  as   I  do.     What   does   it 
look  like  ?     Yes,  it  is  quite  like  a  book,  is  n't  it  ? 
Shall  I  read  you  a  story  from  it  ? 

There  's  every  story  in  the  world  in  my  book  ; 
which  one  will  you  have  ?  Could  not  Clara  read 
us  a  story  now?  .  .  .  Yes,  it  is  like  a  singing 
book,  too.  Shall  we  sing  something?  .  .  .  No, 
don't  look  at  me,  keep  your  eyes  on  your  book, 
for  we  're  playing  it 's  a  new  song,  and  you  don't 
know  the  words.  .  .  . 

So  it  is,  just  as  much  like  a  piano-book,  Carl. 
Oh,  I  know  what  you  would  like  !  I  '11  get  you 
each  a  second -gift  cube  for  a  music-stand,  and 
you  can  rest  the  piano  book  against  it  and  play  a 
tune  on  your  table.  (Froebel's  "  Finger-Piano  " 
would  be  appropriate  here.)  Now  I  '11  write  your 
names  on  the  outside  of  your  books,  and  next 
time  you  can  fold  some  leaves  for  them  and  take 
the  little  books  home  to  mother. 

Another  time,  when  we  have  made  the  first 
fold,  we  can  set  it  up  on  the  table  for  a  roof ; 


220  PAPER  FOLDING 

shingles  may  be  quickly  drawn  on  each  one,  and 
the  ioy  is  intense  if  a  slit  is  cut  in  the 

First  Fold.         . -,  ■,  ,  .  t-  n     -,       ^  . 

ridge-pole,  and  a  tiny  tolded  chimney 
inserted.    A  song  would  be  appropriate  here. 

When  we  have  made  the  second  fold  in  the 
Second  paper,  it  is  obviously  a  window.  .  .  . 
Fold.  Who    is   looking   from    your   window, 

Harry,  .  .  .  and  from  yours,  Mattie  ?  .  .  .  Yes, 
I  think  it  would  be  charming  to  make  curtains 
with  the  pencil,  but  there  are  several  kinds  of 
curtains,  you  know.  We  might  make  shades 
with  tassels,  or  sash  curtains,  or  lace  draperies, 
or  pretty  cotton  hangings  with  pictures  on  them. 
.  .  .  Shall  we  sing  "  See  the  Little  Window 
Bright "  ? 

Most  of  these  plays  are  given  on  the  supposi- 
tion that  the  kindergartner  is  using  stiff  brown 
paper  for  the  preliminary  exercises.  If  the  paper 
is  stiff  and  heavy  enough,  we  may  pinch  it  up  a 
little  on  the  two  folds,  and  make  a  hanging  basket 
from  it,  suspended  by  worsted  cords ;  or  it  may  be 
called  a  parasol,  and  gummed  upon  a  stick  for  a 
handle,  or  it  will  stand  up  admirably  upon  the 
table,  and  serve  as  an  umbrella-tent. 

When  first  folded  into  the  triangle  the  paper 
Third  and      mav  be  a  hill,  and  adventurous  lentils 

Fourth  "^  . 

Folds.  make  bold  slides  down    its   precipitous 

height ;  or  it  may  be  a  shawl  with  a  scalloped 
border  hastily  cut  out.  If  each  child  then  folds 
it  around  Thumbkin's  chubby  shoulders  and  the 


PAPER  FOLDING  221 

kindergartner  pencils  a  little  face  on  the  thumb- 
nail, then  what  delicious  merriment,  what  kisses 
and  cuddlings  and  bye-lows  ! 

The  first  pentagon  may  be  set  up  on  the  table 
as  a  ship,  and  while  it  skims  along,  a  subsequent 
sailing  song  be  sung ;  the  first  hexagon  ^°^^"^8«- 
may  be  called  a  tray,  which  may  be  decorated  a 
little,  and  weighted  with  a  doll's  cup  and  saucer. 
("  The  Little  Waiters  "  ^  would  be  a  pretty  song 
for  such  a  play.)  Then  the  smaller  pentagon 
may  be  a  house  or  a  dog-kennel,  and  the  first 
square  a  handkerchief  case,  tied  with  worsted  and 
filled  with  a  tissue  paper  handkerchief,  or  an  en- 
velope, which  may  be  addressed  and  stamped  and 
then  hold  a  letter  or  a  valentine  with  a  bit  of 
colored  paper  for  a  seal. 

Of  course  it  is  understood  that  all  these  are  but 
suggestions,  illustrative  of  what  may  be  done  with 
the  first  foldings,  which  are  sometimes  rather  diffi- 
cult and  discouraging  for  the  children. 

There  is  a  sequence  of  simple  figures,  aU  life- 
forms,  and  all  folded  so  as  to  stand  erect  u  pjg  »  g^. 
upon  the  table,  which  we  caU  the  "  Pig  "  •!"""""• 
sequence,  and  which  we  have  found  very  useful 
before  the  folding  of  symmetrical  forms  is  begun. 

If  you  should  make  the  little  figures  and  if  the 
names  attached  should  seem  to  you  unnatural,  we 
can  only  say  that  they  have  met  with  unbounded 

^  All  the  song^  which  have  been  mentioned  are  to  be  found 
in  Kindergarten  Chimes  (Kate  D.  Wiggin).     Oliver  Ditson  Co. 


222  PAPEB  FOLDING 

applause  and  delight,  from  those  captious  critics, 
the  children  themselves. 

We  call  the  forms  successively,  the  large  tent, 
the  snow-bank  or  hillside,  the  horse-car,  the  small 
tent,  the  table,  the  card-case,  the  fireplace,  the 
box,  the  two  canoes,  the  salt-cellar,  the  wood 
basket,  and  finally  the  Pig,  —  the  crowning  glory 
of  the  sequence,  a  star  of  the  purest  ray  and  of 
the  first  magnitude. 

Only  two  or  three  of  these  should  be  made  at  a 
lesson  ;  indeed,  not  more  than  one  after  the  card- 
case  is  passed.  Great  attention  must  be  paid  to 
neatness,  and  as  each  simple  form  presents  itself, 
the  kindergartner  may  join  the  children  in  play- 
ing with  it.  The  tunnels  can  be  united  into  a 
mammoth  snow -shed.  A  blinding  snow-storm 
can  appear,  and  the  children  may  give  shelter  to 
a  flock  of  poor  little  shivering  lambs  hastily  cut 
out  of  white  paper  for  the  occasion.  (This  is  a 
charming  story-station,  and  what  delight  to  tarry 
there  a  moment  and  tell  a  suitable  story,  and  then 
sing  "  My  Lambkin,"  and  "  This  is  the  way  the 
snow  comes  down.")  At  their  tables  they  can 
give  dinner  parties,  and  very  small  bits  of  paper 
cut  by  their  own  hands  to  represent  dishes  will 
give  them  great  pleasure. 

In  these  half  hours  spent  with  the  younger  ones 
the  kindergartner  will  be  able  to  give  the  greatest 
delight,  and  it  is  in  these  very  moments  of  close 
and  familiar   companionship  more   than   in   the 


PAPER  FOLDING  223 

formal  lesson,  that  she  "  comes  nearest  to  the 
heart  of  things,  and  lets  Nature  be  her  teacher." 
Neither  should  she  fear  she  is  accomplishing  no- 
thing, or  that  there  is  no  mental  progress  with  this 
simple  handiwork.  For  the  preliminary  train- 
ing of  the  senses  the  child  needs  an  alphabet  of 
things,  as  Froebel  says,  and  this  he  finds  in  the 
blocks,  sticks,  clay,  and  paper  of  the  kindergar- 
ten. The  unthinking  father  may  laugh  at.  the 
tiny  ships,  pigs,  and  picture  frames  that  the  child 
brings  home  as  his  morning's  work,  but  he  might 
be  convinced  of  their  value,  could  he  see  them  in 
process  of  formation. 

Here  let  us  say  again,  since  iteration  is  next 
to  inspiration,  —  strait  is  the  path  and  narrow  is 
the  way  where  the  perfect  sort  of  play  is  in  ques- 
tion, and  few  there  be  that  tread  it  successfully. 
With  one  kindergartner  it  is  childlike,  sponta- 
neous, simple,  free,  poetic,  flexible,  appropriate, 
natural,  and  full  of  meaning.  With  another  it  is 
childish,  silly,  purposeless,  trivial,  artificial.  If 
you  cannot  play,  wait  until  you  can  !  Meantime 
suggest,  stimulate,  interest,  influence,  charm  in 
some  other  fashion.  The  wrong  sort  of  play  dis- 
sipates, the  right  sort  disciplines  the  mind  and 
heart.  One  teacher  overlays  her  lesson  or  her  ex- 
ercise with  a  lot  of  aimless  affectations  and  scat- 
terbrained pastimes,  under  the  impression  that  she 
is  a  magician  and  the  children  are  spell-bound; 
the  other  makes  the  exact  point  she  wishes  and 


224  PAPEB  FOLDING 

carries  it  with  contagious  gayety  and  irresistible 
spirit,  mixed  with  sweet  common-sense.  We  con- 
fess that  temperament  has  much  to  do  with  it,  but 
if  you  have  not  the  genius  of  play  you  can  still 
do  wonders  if  you  have  sympathy,  tact,  quick  in- 
telligence, ready  wit,  —  and  modesty. 

There   is   another  variation  of   folding  called 
Paper  paper  pasting,  which  may  be  made  of 

Pasting.  great  service  as  the  child  climbs  the 
hill  Difficulty.  He  is  given  the  usual  square  of 
paper,  and,  after  he  has  made  the  first  two  folds, 
cuts  it  in  quarters,  according  to  the  lines,  pro- 
ducing four  smaller  squares.  He  repeats  the 
folds  with  the  small  pieces,  thus  gaining  much 
extra  practice,  and  then  arranges  them  in  a  design 
which  he  pastes  on  a  square  of  brown  paper.  In 
the  next  exercise  he  makes  another  fold  or  two, 
cuts  the  square,  makes  the  lines  again,  uses  the 
quarters  for  an  invention,  and  so  on,  using  suc- 
cessively the  open  square,  the  triangle,  the  penta- 
gon, hexagon,  smaller  pentagon,  etc.,  until  he  has 
arrived  at  the  point  where  he  can  complete  a 
fundamental  folding  in  one  lesson.  The  children 
may  also  combine  their  quarters  and  make  large 
group-work  inventions  occasionally. 

All  Froebel's  occupations  inculcate,  in  greater 
Paper  ^^  ^^^^  proportion,  the   same  practical 

Ind^Rfne  virtucs ;  virtues  always  requiring  a  cer- 
Geometry.  ^^^^  amouut  of  cducatiou  and  develop- 
ment in  every  child,  no  matter  how  wonderfully 


PAPER  FOLDING  225 

endowed  he  may  be,  —  economy,  neatness,  perse- 
verance, industry,  patience,  etc.,  —  but  each,  too, 
has  its  specific  value,  its  salient  point  of  excel- 
lence, which  sets  it  apart  from  all  others,  and 
keeps  in  view  the  training  of  special  faculties,  or 
capabiKties. 

While  paper  folding  includes  much  that  is 
taught  in  other  ways,  it  lays  the  foundation,  as 
does  nothing  else,  for  the  acquiring  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  geometry,  the  mensuration  of 
all  the  simple  plane  figures  with  which  we  deal  in 
ordinary  daily  avocations,  the  general  relations  of 
surfaces,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  different  tri- 
angles, quadrilaterals,  and  polygons. 

All  this  is  made  wonderfully  clear  by  the  va- 
rious foldings,  in  their  simple  derivation  from 
the  square,  circle,  or  equilateral  triangle.  By  in- 
formal questioning,  as  the  child  proceeds  from 
one  form  to  another,  bringing  into  view  oblongs, 
triangles,  pentagons,  and  hexagons;  in  counting 
their  sides,  corners,  and  angles;  in  seeing  the 
square,  as  a  whole,  divide  itself  into  halves,  quar- 
ters, eighths,  and  sixteenths ;  in  measuring,  with 
eye  and  hand,  the  degrees  of  the  different  trian- 
gles, sharp,  blunt,  and  equal  sided,  and  noting 
their  development  from,  and  relation  to  the  right 
angle,  is  it  not  easy  to  make  this,  by  intelligent 
use,  a  complete  compendium  of  elementary  mathe- 
matics ? 

In  commenting  upon  Professor  Denton  Snider*s 


226  PAPER  FOLDING 

saying,  that  Dante  had  the  temperament  of  a 
Plato  and  the  training  of  an  Aristotle,  Miss 
Elizabeth  Harrison  writes:  "How  many  lesser 
Dantes  have  been  spoiled  because,  having  the 
dreamy,  mystical  temperament,  they  have  not 
been  trained,  as  children,  into  habits  of  exactness 
and  practical  utility;  or,  having  mathematical 
precision  by  nature,  have  been  robbed  of  poetic 
training  by  ridicule,  or  too  much  dealing  with  the 
commonplace  things  in  life." 

A  full  series  of  questions  is  appended,  some  of 
which  are  usually  brought  out  in  the  various  con- 
versations between  the  kindergartner  and  the 
older  children.  Most  of  them,  however,  are  better 
adapted  to  the  connecting  class,  or  the  primary 
school,  than  to  the  kindergarten.  Of  course  we 
should  only  use  and  vary  the  simpler  ones,  until 
the  class  is  advanced  considerably  in  the  study  of 
form  and  number.  The  children  may  be  able  to 
fold  quite  well  various  simple  forms  without  com- 
prehending all  included  in  them. 

What  have  we  here  ? 

How  do  you  know  that  it  is  a  square? 

How  many  edges  has  it  ? 

How  many  corners  has  it? 

What  more  can  we  say  about  the  edges  ? 

Why  do  we  call  it  a  square  ? 

But  the  door  and  the  window  both  have  edges. 
Are  they  square  ? 

Why  is  the  door  not  square  ? 


PAPER   FOLDING  227 

Very  well,  then,  look  at  the  sides  of  the  square 
and  tell  me  the  difference. 

Show  the  upper  right  corner. 

Show  the  upper  left  corner. 

Show  the  lower  right  corner. 

Show  the  lower  left  corner. 

Fold  the  two  lower  corners  to  the  upper  two, 
exactly,  edge  to  edge,  keeping  the  paper  straight 
upon  the  table. 

What  have  we  now  ? 

What  shape  is  it  ? 

What  do  we  call  it  ? 

Is  it  like  the  square  ? 

Why  not?  You  see  it  has  four  comers  and 
four  edges,  like  the  square. 

Now  open  the  paper  by  folding  down  the  upper 
half,  but  not  turning  it.  What  kind  of  a  crease, 
or  line,  have  we  made  ? 

How  does  it  run  ? 

Turn  the  paper  so  that  you  see  the  line  run- 
ning vertically,  going  up  and  down  through  the 
middle  of  the  paper.  Now  fold  the  two  lower 
corners  as  before,  to  the  upper  two,  across  the 
vertical  line. 

What  have  we  now  ? 

Open  it  as  before,  carefully.  What  do  you 
see? 

Now  turn  the  paper  cornerwise,  so  that  the  cor- 
ners point  up,  down,  right,  and  left. 

How  do  the  lines  run  now  ? 


228  PAPER  FOLDING 

Fold  the  lower  corner  to  the  upper ;  what  have 
we  now? 

How  many  corners  and  edges  has  it  ? 

Are  they  all  the  same  length  ? 

Where  are  the  two  sharp  angles  ? 

Which  angle  is  the  largest? 

What  kind  of  an  angle  is  the  ui3per  one  ? 

And  what  do  we  call  the  other  two  angles  ? 

Open  the  paper,  please. 

Do  you  see  the  folding  you  have  just  made  ? 

Turn  the  paper  so  that  you  see  the  same  line 
running  up  and  down.  How  many  lines  do  you 
see? 

How  many  parts  do  you  see  between  the  lines  ? 

Are  they  all  alike  ? 

Fold  the  lower  corner  to  the  upper  again,  and 
open  it  as  before. 

It  looks  quite  different,  does  it  not  ?  Can  any 
one  tell  me  why  ? 

How  many  lines  has  it  now  ? 

How  many  triangles  can  you  count  now  ? 

Are  they  alike  ? 

How  many  angles  in  each ;  how  many  in  all  ? 

How  many  triangles  in  the  upper  half  ? 

How  many  in  the  lower  half  ? 

How  many  in  both  ? 

Can  you  see  one  little  point  where  the  lines  all 
meet  and  cross  each  other  ? 

Fold  one  corner,  —  the  lower,  —  exactly  to  that 
middle  point,  neither  above  nor  below. 


PAPER  FOLDING  229 

How  many  corners  did  we  fold  ? 

Which  one  was  it  ? 

How  many  are  left  ?  j 

Do  you  know  the  name  of  the  figure  we  have 
made  ? 

How  many  sides  and  corners  has  it  ? 

Which  corner  is  opposite  the  lower  ? 

Fold  that  one  down,  now,  just  to  meet  the 
lower  corner.  Do  not  lap  it  over,  but  just  let 
them  look  at  each  other. 

How  many  corners  are  folded  now? 

How  many  are  left  ? 

How  many  sides  and  corners  has  this  figure 
which  we  have  just  made  ? 

Shall  I  tell  you  its  name  ? 

Fold  the  right  corner  in  to  meet  the  others ; 
now  the  left,  and  we  have  a  square  again  smaller 
than  before. 

What  do  you  see  on  this  side  of  the  square  ? 

Turn  the  paper  entirely  over  and  place  it  cor- 
nerwise. 

Now  fold  the  lower  corner  to  the  middle,  the 
upper  comer  down,  the  right  corner  in,  and  then 
the  left  corner. 

Now  we  have  a  square  again  still  smaller. 

Do  you  see  four  triangles,  all  pointing  towards 
the  centre  ? 

Turn  the  paper  entirely  over,  and  what  do  you 
see? 

A  fundamental  form  has  now  been  folded,  and 


230  PAPER  FOLDING 

we  proceed,  in  the  first  sequence,  with  the  triangu- 
lar side ;  in  the  second,  with  the  reverse  side, 
showing  the  four  squares.  For  the  third  and 
fourth  sequences  we  use  a  different  fundamental 
folding,  much  more  difficult  to  give  by  dictation. 

We  give  exercises  with  the  equilateral  triangle, 
and  with  the  circle,  in  exactly  the  same  manner, 
and  on  precisely  the  same  plan ;  first  bringing  out 
all  possible  knowledge  of  the  form  itself,  then 
proceeding  to  the  simplest  possible  instructions 
by  which  to  fold  the  fundamental  figure,  finally 
leading  the  children  to  make  from  this  their  own 
combinations.^ 

The  dictations  at  first  are  very  simple  and  con- 
stantly diversified  by  play.  The  kinder- 
gartner  "  shows  how  "  with  a  larger  piece 
of  paper,  when  the  directions  do  not  seem  to 
be  clearly  understood,  and  she  constantly  moves 
about  through  the  little  flock,  inspecting  the  fold- 
ing, and  giving  a  word  of  warning,  or  encourage- 
ment to  those  who  need  it.  She  must  see  that 
the  children  fold  on  the  table;  that  they  work 
always  by  opposites,  and  that  they  never  turn  the 
paper  about  when  following  dictations.  It  is 
easier  to  fold  the  right-hand  corner  in  than  the 
left,  and  the  little  people  must  be  watched,  else 

1  Numerous  designs  and  directions  for  folding"  the  squaxe,  tri- 
angle, and  circle  into  forms  of  life  and  beauty  are  to  be  found 
in  all  the  "  Guides,"  and  to  be  bought  of  kindergarten  supply 
stores. 


PAPER  FOLDING  231 

they  will  twist  the  paper  so  that  both  corners  will 
become  successively  right-hand  ones,  and  thus  the 
benefit  of  using  the  left  hand  will  be  lost  as  well  as 
confusion  produced  in  following  subsequent  direc- 
tions. The  kindergartner  must  often  have  prac- 
ticed her  dictations,  so  that  they  will  be  quite  clear 
in  her  mind,  and  clearly  and  pleasantly  expressed, 
hut  the  extreme  detail  necessary  at  first  should  he 
dropped  as  soon  as  practicahle^  and  if  the  child 
shows  that  he  knows  what  is  to  come  next  in  mak- 
ing a  fundamental  folding,  he  should  by  all  means 
be  allowed  to  illustrate  his  knowledge,  and  not  be 
held  back  by  the  dogmatism  of  the  kindergartner. 
Froebel  has  apparently  divided  the  various 
symmetrical  forms  into  classes,  or  se-  sequences 
quences;  or,  rather,  they  naturally  so  "^^'^iding. 
divide,  or  classify  themselves  to  an  intelligent 
observer,  —  a  certain  number,  coming  in  regular 
succession  from  one  fundamental  folding,  and 
bearing  more  or  less  resemblance  to  each  other. 
The  first  and  simplest  sequence,  used  in  almost 
every  kindergarten,  is  made  from  that  side  of  the 
folding  paper  which,  after  the  fundamental  form 
is  completed,  shows  the  four  triangles  pointing  to 
the  centre ;  and  these  triangles  are  then  bent,  or 
folded  into  various  positions,  each  change  making 
a  different  design.  Another  sequence,  from  the 
same  starting-point,  presents  quite  a  different  ap- 
pearance when  the  reverse  side,  showing  four 
small  squares,  is  folded. 


232  PAPER  FOLDING 

Two  other  sequences  commonly  used  grow  from 
a  second  fundamental  folding  a  little  more  com- 
plicated, and  these  are  classed  according  to  their 
general  appearance.  In  one  sequence  the  corners 
point  toward,  and  in  another  radiate  from,  the 
centre,  the  inner  edges  of  the  squares  being 
folded. 

These  forms  are  capable  of  almost  endless  vari- 
ations, and  are  all  folded  without  once  cutting 
the  original  square  of  paper.  Indeed,  this  is  one 
of  the  most  telling  points  of  Froebel's  system,  the 
development  of  a  thousand  beautiful  and  artistic 
forms,  with  scarcely  any  tools,  from  the  smallest 
possible  amount  of  material  of  the  simplest  kinds, 
familiar  indeed  to  everybody,  but  to  none  except 
the  initiated  disclosing  these  infinite  possibilities. 

The  square  of  colored  paper,  for  instance,  is  a 
very  commonplace  thing  to  the  outsider,  but  the 
children  have  the  "  open  sesame  "  with  which  to 
transform  it  into  a  hundred  charming  devices,  as 
well  as  to  wake  it  into  mimic  life,  in  the  shape 
of  a  bird,  or  chicken,  or  even  to  coax  it  into  a 
miniature  ship,  purse,  or  tall  hat.  It  is  quite 
impossible  to  give,  in  written  words,  such  an  idea 
of  this  important  occupation  as  can  be  gained 
by  practical  lessons  and  repeated  observation. 
Nearly  all  the  forms  can  be  given  by  dictation  to 
the  child,  if  he  is  sufficiently  advanced ;  if  he  is 
not,  we  confine  ourselves  to  the  simpler  foldings, 
making  as  many  changes  as  possible,  to  give  vari- 


PAPER  FOLDING  233 

ety  to  the  lessons,  until  the  pupil  becomes  more 
expert.  In  some  of  the  difficult  foldings,  requir- 
ing delicate  handling,  we  show  the  child  by  fold- 
ing one  corner  ourselves,  and  allow  him  to  gain  his 
own  experience  by  folding  the  remaining  three. 
This  can  be  done  whenever  the  dictation  becomes 
very  complicated. 

We  can  accustom  the  children  to  give  lessons  to 
each  other,  and  lead  them  to  exactness  from  the 
very  beginning.  They  will  see  clearly  for  them- 
selves, that  the  most  infinitesimal  deviation  from 
the  line,  or  centre,  at  any  one  point  of  the  folding, 
brings  misfortune  and  failure  at  every  succeeding 
point,  and  they  will  be  correspondingly  exact  in 
their  task,  if  we  have  developed  in  them  a  striv- 
ing towards  the  very  best  of  which  they  are 
capable. 

Many  of  the  forms  of  life  are  too  complicated 
to  give  to  a  whole  class,  and  we  are 
obliged  to  show  the  children  how  to  fold 
them,  taking  them  in  groups  of  three  or  four,  and 
folding  our  own  piece  of  paper  as  a  model.  These 
life  forms  should  be  repeatedly  practiced,  as  they 
constitute  such  a  fund  of  enjoyment  for  the  little 
ones  in  the  family  circle,  where  they  can  amuse 
each  other  for  hours  with  scraps  of  newspaper  cut 
and  folded  into  shape.  Froebel  says,  in  regard 
to  them :  "  The  paper  prepared  for  this  end  fur- 
nishes opportunity  to  make  experiments  on  material 
things,  and  it  is  that  which  the  child  seeks  in  the 


234  PAPER  FOLDING 

blind  gropings  of  his  undeveloped  impulses.  The 
effort  of  his  little  powers  is  increased,  by  giving 
him  the  requisite  material,  and  showing  him  the 
right  use  of  it.  For  example,  the  child  tries  to 
make  a  form  out  of  a  piece  of  paper,  —  a  box,  a 
little  bird,  or  something  else.  He  does  not  suc- 
ceed, because  the  paper  has  not  the  right  form, 
and  he  does  not  know  the  requisite  manipulations. 
In  the  kindergarten  he  receives  paper  of  a  square 
form,  and  is  shown  how  he  can  bring  out  the  de- 
sired thing  from  it."  ^ 

Most  of  the  life  forms  are  produced  from  the 
square,  although  a  variety  may  also  be  made  from 
the  triangle,  oblong,  and  circle.  Many  of  them 
are  flat  picture  forms,  but  the  children  enjoy 
rather  better,  on  account  of  the  reality  of  their 
appearance,  those  that  stand  up  alone,  as  well  as 
those  that  can  be  put  to  some  practical  use.  A 
windmill  that  will  revolve  when  put  on  a  stick  or 
a  hatpin  ;  a  boat  that  will  sail ;  a  basket  that  will 
hold  something,  are  obviously  most  attractive  to 
young  persons  of  great  activity  and  practical  abil- 
ity. When  these  young  persons  have  attained 
some  dexterity  in  folding,  they  can  make  soldiers' 
caps  large  enough  to  wear  on  Washington's  birth- 
day, stars  that  may  ornament  a  picture  frame, 
school  bags  stout  enough  to  carry  papers  in,  bal- 
loons for  the  Christmas  tree,  and  boxes  to  hold 
seeds;  and  the  thought  that  their  productions  are 

1  Eeminiscences  of  Froebel,  pages  75,  *76. 


PAPER  FOLDING  235 

really  of  value  will  make  every  child's  heart  glow 
with  honest  pride.  The  various  life  forms  that 
can  be  made  are  so  numerous  that  they  can  very 
easily  be  brought  into  relation  with  the  other  work. 
We  should  remember  here  that  the  child  should 
always  tell  us  what  he  thinks  the  form  looks  like, 
before  we  attempt  to  name  it ;  but  in  cases  where 
there  could  be  no  difference  of  opinion,  why  not 
say  before  you  begin  dictation,  "  Let  us  try  to 
make  a  ship  to-day,  children,"  or  "  Would  you 
like  to  make  a  butterfly  ?  " 

The  wonderful  dexterity  and  inventive  powers 
of  the  Japanese  children  are  again  shown  Japanese 
in  those   specimens  of  work  from  the  ^«*'«"^- 
Empress's   kindergarten   in   Tokyo,  which   have 
before  been  mentioned. 

The  perfection  with  which  the  kindergarten  has 
naturalized  itself  there  is  reflected  in  the  foldins^s. 
Here  is  a  mulberry  leaf  lying  by  a  cocoon,  here  is 
a  locust,  here  an  airy  dragonfly,  there  a  contem- 
plative stork  and  an  absolutely  lifelike  crab,  and 
here  in  the  book  of  a  five-year-old  baby  is  a  picture 
in  paper  of  the  wild  goose  as  he  "  trails  his  harrow 
through  the  sky."  The  flock  of  flying  geese  as 
seen  in  autumn  was  folded  in  soft  gray  paper  by 
the  child  himself,  and  was  his  own  thought.  He 
invented  the  form  from  a  triangle  and  graduated 
the  sizes  of  the  birds,  pasting  them  in  a  diagonal 
direction  across  the  page  of  his  book  of  work. 
Dear  brown  baby!  it  dims  one's  eyes  to  think 


236  PAPER  FOLDING 

what  joy  your  work  would  have  given  to  that 
gentle  child-lover  in  Germany  forty  years  ago  ! 

Some  allusion  has  already  been  made  to  the 
Color  in  color  training  given  by  folding,  and  to 
Folding.  ^^  obvious  ncccssity  that  the  child 
should  be  left  as  nearly  free  as  possible  to  the 
exercise  of  his  individual  preferences  in  selecting 
colors.  There  is  no  difficulty,  of  course,  in  regard 
to  the  folding  of  single  forms,  but  where  a  num- 
ber of  symmetrical  figures  are  grouped  upon  a 
page,  artistic  combination  is  requisite  to  produce 
a  pleasing  effect.  Fortunately,  however,  paper 
folding  is  not  one  of  the  first  occupations  given 
in  the  kindergarten,  and  by  the  time  the  child 
reaches  the  stage  when  blending  of  colors  is 
necessary,  he  has  received  so  much  training  with 
the  other  materials  of  the  kindergarten,  as  to  have 
some  little  idea  of  effective  color  combinations. 
The  expert  child  may  make  a  charming  effect 
with  his  inventions  if  he  folds  the  forms  double, 
that  is,  lays  two  squares  together  and  folds  them 
as  one,  which  will  give  a  dainty  colored  lining  to 
every  quill,  rosette,  and  corner. 

Invention  is  easy  for  the  child  in  folding,  if  we 
Inventions     do  not  dictatc  too  many  figures  to  him 

and  Group        ,      «  -,  .  ^  i  i 

Work.  before  we  set  him  free   to   work,  thus 

exhausting  all  the  simple  figures  which  would 
naturally  suggest  themselves  to  him.  After  we 
have  given  him  some  idea  of  the  law  of  opposites, 
we  may  leave  him  to  the  joy  of  making  his  own  di»- 


PAPER  FOLDING  237 

coveries,  and  "  the  figures  thus  brought  out,  which 
going  from  the  simplest  proceed  step  by  step 
easily  to  the  most  complex,  only  appear  difficult, 
and  beyond  the  child's  powers,  when  we  do  not 
know  how  they  have  proceeded  from  each  other."  ^ 

Miss  Peabody  said  she  had  seen  in  one  kinder- 
garten five  hundred  different  figures  made  out  of 
the  simple  square,  variously  folded  and  cut,  and 
advised  that  we  should  call  the  attention  of  the 
children  to  "the  fact  of  this  endless  capacity  of 
development  of  the  simplest  and  most  uninterest- 
ing form  by  the  exercise  of  human  ingenuity  act- 
ing according  to  law.  Thus  they  will  realize  that 
beauty  is  not  an  outward  thing,  but  an  inward 
power  which  they  exert." 

The  children,  in  our  opinion,  invent  much  more 
freely  with  the  five-inch,  and  even  with  larger 
squares,  than  they  do  with  the  ordinary  sized 
papers,  for  the  former  give  them  more  room  to 
work,  and  a  larger  surface  seems  to  offer  greater 
possibilities  of  transformation. 

When  we  are  using  the  folding  for  decoration, 
or  for  group  work  of  any  kind,  various  sizes  of 
papers  may  be  used,  the  four-inch  square  serving 
as  a  centrepiece  while  the  inch  squares  are  folded 
into  a  border,  for  instance.  Suppose  the  chil- 
dren are  decorating  a  box  together  as  a  present 
for  some  sick  playmate.  They  may  make  a  great 
many  tiny  foldings  and  arrange  them  in  the  shape 

^  Reminiscences  of  Froebel,  page  76. 


238  PAPER  FOLDING 

of  a  circle,  a  maltese  cross,  or  a  star.  If  the  col- 
ors are  well  managed,  the  foldings  done  smoothly, 
and  pressed  flat,  the  effect  is  very  like  mosaic. 
We  may  also  make  a  sort  of  inlaid  work,  resem- 
bling parquetry,  by  folding  the  design  in  one  or 
two  tones  and  filling  it  in  with  a  smooth  back- 
ground of  simple  foldings  in  one  color.  For  in- 
ventions, too,  the  plain  paper  between  the  folded 
corners  may  sometimes  be  cut  out,  and  thus  quite 
a  different  effect  produced. 

Edward  Wiebe  says  of  paper  folding :  "  We 
Value  of        do  not  intend  simply  to  while  away  our 

Paper  Fold-  \f  .  .   "^        . 

ing.  own  and  the   child  s   precious  time  m 

folding ;  but  we  are  engaged  in  an  occupation 
whose  final  aim  is  acquisition  of  ability  to  work, 
and  to  work  well ;  one  of  the  most  important 
claims  human  society  is  entitled  to  make  upon 
each  individual." 

The  value  of  folding  in  geometry  teaching  has 
been  fully  shown,  and  we  should  here  make  the 
distinction  that  whereas  in  paper  cutting  we  pro- 
duce the  figures  by  cutting  away  a  portion  of  the 
ground  form,  in  paper  folding  we  produce  them 
upon  the  ground  form. 

Its  value  in  cultivating  ambidexterity  has  also 
been  mentioned,  and  this  indeed  could  be  carried 
out  more  fully  than  is  at  present  done.  The  occu- 
pation has,  besides,  a  certain  industrial  worth  as 
related  to  the  folding  of  garments  and  doing  up 
of  packages.     It  gives  wonderful  general  dexter- 


PAPER  FOLDING  239 

ity,  which  is  useful  in  all  later  handiwork,  and 
affords  admirable  training  to  the  eye  as  well  as 
the  hand.  It  inculcates  neatness,  cleanliness,  and 
accuracy,  and  like  many  other  kindergarten  occu- 
pations is  a  silent,  inexorable  teacher  of  cause 
and  effect.  Truly,  as  Eleanor  Beebe  says,  "  There 
is  many  a  truth  for  the  good  of  a  life  which  the 
child  folds  in  as  he  plays  with  his  papers." 

Its  value  in  the  school  is  abundantly  evident 
from  what  has  been  said,  for  not  one  vaiuein 
half  of  the  knowledge  which  coidd  be  *b«schooL 
inculcated  with  it  can  even  be  touched  upon  in 
the  kindergarten.  The  whole  geometry  of  the 
circle,  for  instance,  —  diameter,  circumference, 
radius,  chord,  arc,  circle,  semicircle,  quadrant, 
segment,  sector,  can  all  be  taught  in  the  prelimi- 
nary foldings  of  that  form,  and  there  really  seems 
no  limit  to  the  exercises  in  plane  geometry  which 
might  be  given  with  the  occupation.  Take  it 
in  relation  to  color  teaching,  and  in  relation  to 
decoration  and  historic  ornament,  the  result  is  the 
same,  for  it  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  the 
occupations,  and  one  which  contributes,  in  large 
measure,  to  the  development  of  intellectual  fac- 
ulty. 

All  the  geometrical  forms  that  can  be  learned 
with  the  solid  and  plane  figures,  and  constructed 
with  the  sticks,  or  linear  drawing,  are  made  with 
the  paper  folding;  which  has,  in  addition,  the 
merit  of   drawing  out  the  active  individual  ca- 


240  PAPER  FOLDING 

paoity.  It  is,  perhaps,  the  most  difficult  of  all 
the  occupations,  when  developed  to  its  full  extent. 
All  the  beautiful  developments  of  the  art,  by 
which  it  is  seen  how,  one  after  the  other,  several 
series  of  geometrical  forms  are  developed  from 
some  fundamental  form,  are  admirable  training 
for  the  kindergartner  and  teacher,  both  as  manual 
art  and  practical  geometry ;  but  a  comparatively 
small  range  is  all  that  little  children  can  com- 
pass. Its  value,  however,  is  great,  as  bringing 
forward  the  lessons  learned  with  the  gifts,  and 
other  occupations  in  another  form,  and  one  which, 
by  requiring  the  contributive  skill  of  the  child, 
tests  the  previous  acquirement,  and  gives  more 
thorough  possession  of  it.  Between  recognizing 
certain  forms  and  producing  them,  there  is  a  long 
distance,  which  the  childish  intelligence,  atten- 
tion, and  memory  must  have  traversed  in  its  slow 
and  gradual  advance  before  the  latter  stage  is 
reached. 


PEAS   WORK 

Materials :  Dried  peas,  which  have  been  soaked  before  using-, 
and  slender  pointed  sticks.  Balls  of  wax  and  clay  are  also 
sometimes  employed,  as  well  as  tiny  cork  cubes,  and  wires. 

Before  the  child  begins  systematic  work  with 
this  occupation,  he  must  learn  to  know  "  The  Fairy- 
thoroughly  the  materials  which  it  em-  science." 
ploys ;  and  if  hours  of  time  are  given  to  the  play- 
ful study  of  the  pea  alone,  they  will  be  well  spent. 
Here  he  gets  a  peep  at  Nature's  mysteries  of 
growth  and  germination,  and  in  the  simple  botany 
lessons  which  must,  perforce,  be  given,  his  feet 
are  set  on  the  pathway  that  leads  to  the  "  Fairy- 
land of  Science." 

Let  us  begin  with  the  study  of  the  dried  peas, 
giving  a  small  boxful  to  each  child,  and  let  us 
have  exhaustive  observation  by  the  children  of 
their  shape,  size,  color,  texture,  practical  value, 
and  activities.  As  the  preliminary  steps  in  peas 
work  are  suitable  for  even  the  youngest  children, 
and,  therefore,  must  be  short,  we  may  close  the 
exercise  with  a  group-work  play  in  the  sand- 
table.  With  small  iron  rakes  and  hoes  the 
sand  is  worked  over,  and  then  rolled  perfectly 
level  with  a  miniature  garden  roller.     Now  the 


242  PEAS   WOBK 

peas  are  brought,  and  used  to  lay  designs  upon 
the  smoothly  prepared  surface,  —  circles,  stars, 
crosses,  borders,  —  or  even  the  outline  of  a  pea- 
vine,  with  its  leaves  and  flowers,  may  be  followed, 
if  the  kindergartner  will  trace  it  with  a  sharp- 
pointed  stick. 

For  the  next  exercise  two  peas  may  be  given, 
one  of  which  has  been  soaked  for  some  hours, 
and  their  appearance  may  be  contrasted,  and  the 
difference  between  them  felt  as  well  as  seen.  Now 
comes  the  golden  opportunity  for  a  talk  about 
the  baby  plant  asleep  in  this  pale-tinted  cradle, 
and  with  a  pin  we  may  show  the  child  how  to 
loosen  and  take  off  the  outer  skin,  letting  the 
halves  fall  apart.  This  must  be  done  very  deli- 
cately and  reverently,  and  the  children  will  marvel 
at  the  perfect  division  of  the  seed-lobes,  and  the 
tiny,  delicate  germ  that  can  so  plainly  be  seen. 
Of  course  all  have  eaten  cooked  peas,  but  it  might 
be  well  now  to  let  them  taste  one  of  the  halves 
they  have  produced,  so  that  they  can  tell  what 
good  food  the  baby  plant  is  to  feed  on  as  it  grows. 
The  little  pea,  curled  up  there  in  its  cradle,  must 
feel  something  like  a  little  boy  asleep  in  a  sugar- 
barrel,  must  it  not?  A  pleasant  finish  to  this 
tiny  botany  lesson  will  be  to  bring  a  large  box  of 
prepared  earth,  and  let  each  child  plant  a  few 
peas,  allowing  them  afterward  to  sprinkle  the 
little  garden  with  a  few  drops  of  water.  If  the 
box  is  set  in  a  sunny  window,  it  will  not  be  long 


PEAS   WOBK  243 

before  the  green  shoots  will  appear,  and  if  prop- 
erly tended  they  will  grow  finely  in  the  rich  soil, 
and  finally  rejoice  the  little  gardeners  with  blos- 
soms and  fruit.  The  children  who  planted  the 
peas  should  take  entire  charge  of  them,  giving 
them  their  daily  drink,  keeping  the  soil  free 
about  their  roots,  and  arranging  the  trellis  for 
their  support.  Then,  when  the  pods  appear,  and 
when  each  child  is  given  one  to  take  home,  what 
delight  to  look  in  the  "  treasure  boxes  "  and  see 
the  green  spheres  all  a-row,  each  fastened  to  its 
tiny  stem. 

It  is  advised  by  some  authorities  that  after  the 
peas  are  planted  one  shall  be  pulled  up  each  day, 
examined,  and  drawn  by  the  children,  that  the 
various  stages  of  germination  and  growth  may  be 
seen. 

To  our  minds,  however,  although  to  some  per- 
sons our  objection  may  seem  overstrained  and 
sentimental,  this  method  of  procedure  is  a  dan- 
gerous one,  and  savors  overmuch  of  vivisection. 
Better  in  every  way,  in  our  opinion,  is  to  watch 
the  daily  growth,  by  placing  a  handful  of  peas  on 
a  thin  layer  of  cotton  in  a  bowl  of  water.  "  First 
the  children  will  notice  that  these  peas  soon  look 
*  wrinkled,'  are  getting  bigger,  then  '  a  lump '  is 
seen  on  one  side,  after  which  the  '  coat '  comes 
off,  the  pea  is  split,  and  a  tiny  green  thing  is 
'  coming  right  out  of  it.'  From  now  on  the 
changes  are  more  marked.     What  some  will  call 


244  PEAS    WOBK 

'  the  baby's  feet '  are  stretching  down,  and  the 
tender  leaves,  its  '  head,'  growing  up.  Peas 
often  grow  several  inches  high  on  the  cotton,  and 
by  this  illustration,  the  downward  and  upward 
growth  of  root  and  stem,  the  knowledge  of  where 
each  part  found  its  food,  and  of  the  essential  con- 
ditions for  plant  life  are  clearly  shown,  in  a  way 
which  will  not  be  easily  forgotten."  ^ 

The  best  variety  of  pea  for  this  occupation 
Practical  scems  to  be  the  "  Philadelphia  Early," 
Directions.  ^^  '^  spHts  uiuch  Icss  casily  than  some 
of  the  other  kinds.  It  is  best  to  soak  them  over 
night,  and  then  let  them  dry  an  hour  or  two  be- 
fore using,^  as  they  must  not  only  be  soft  enough 
to  be  pier(;ed  by  the  sticks,  but  hard  enough  to 
hold  them  securely.  The  slender  pointed  sticks 
may  be  bought  by  the  package  at  any  kindergar- 
ten supply  store,  and  toothpicks  may  be  used  for 
the  first  exercises,  although,  as  they  are  all  of  the 
same  length,  elaborate  forms  cannot  be  produced 
with  them.  The  materials  should  be  given  to 
each  child  in  a  box,  or  deep  tray,  which  he  may 
keep  upon  his  table,  for  there  is  no  need  of  add- 
ing an  element  of  disorder  to  the  lesson  by  the 
necessity  of  chasing  the  frolicsome  spheres  where- 
ever  they  may  chance  to  roll.  The  peas  may 
easily  be  split  and  the  sticks  broken,  even  in  the 

1  Kate  H.  Hennessey,  Kindergarten  Magazine,  May,  1890. 

2  Some  kindergartners  advise  drying  them  as  long  as  they  are 
soaked. 


FEAS   WORK  245 

hands  of  the  skillful  worker,  and  these  fragments 
should  all  be  placed  carefully  in  the  box  again. 

The  small  cork  cubes  and  wires  are  much 
stronger  and  more  durable  than  the  former  mate- 
rials, of  course,  but  they  are  more  than  twice  as 
expensive,  and  the  wires  are  scarcely  suitable  for 
the  nursery,  or  for  very  little  children,  for,  though 
they  are  blunt,  yet  too  determined  a  pressure  on 
them  is  likely  to  result  in  injury  to  the  hand. 
Small  balls  of  common  beeswax,  or  of  clay,  are 
employed  for  the  cementing  points  by  some  kin- 
dergartners,  and  all  children  enjoy  their  use,  now 
and  then,  as  a  change  from  the  ordinary  materials. 

Herman  Goldammer  speaks  of  the  desire  which 
makes  itself  more  and  more  observable  First  ex- 

,  .  ercises  in 

m  a  child  as  he  increases  m  age,  —  "  that  Peas  work. 
of  seeing  definite  results  proceed  from  his  activity. 
He  is  no  longer  governed  by  the  instinct  which  led 
him,  without  apparent  object,  to  destroy  every- 
thing, to  reconstruct  it  again,  and  then  again  to 
destroy  it.  In  its  stead  has  arisen  a  higher,  a  cre- 
ative instinct,  which  mere  action  no  longer  satis- 
fies, which,  for  its  satisfaction,  requires  a  pleasure 
caused  by  the  objects  created."  ^ 

Although  this  creative  instinct  has  been  some- 
what gratified  by  the  use  of  the  peas  in  flat  de- 
signs, similar  to  those  made  with  the  lentil,  shell, 
and  ellipsoid,  yet  it  is  now  time  to  make  some- 
thing real  with  them,  and  to  associate  the  line 

^  The  Kindergarten,  page  134. 


246  PEAS   WOBK 

with  their  use.  A  few  peas  and  some  long  sticks 
are  given  at  first,  perhaps,  and  the  children  learn 
to  thrust  the  stick  into  the  pea  properly,  holding 
it  near  the  end,  and  working  on  the  table.  Now 
they  have  made  a  hat-pin,  a  cane,  a  poker,  a  ham- 
mer, or  a  drum-major's  staff,  —  and  whatever 
name  they  select  for  the  object  will  give  rise  to 
a  play  or  song,  or  the  telling  of  some  appropri- 
ate incident.  With  a  pea  on  each  end,  the  stick 
looks  like  a  glove-mender,  or  a  pair  of  wagon- 
wheels,  —  or  better  still,  a  dumb-bell,  and  now 
let  us  make  two  of  them  and  have  some  fairy 
calisthenics.  We  should  also,  during  these  first 
plays,  practice  the  stringing  a  stickful  of  peas, 
which  repeats  the  suggestion  of  the  tenth  gift 
work,  that  a  line  is  made  up  of  a  succession  of 
points.  We  next  progress  to  the  uniting  of  two 
sticks  by  a  pea,  making  a  right  angle,  which  of 
course  is  a  carpenter's  square,  and  is  used  imme- 
diately for  measuring  and  for  testing  the  accuracy 
of  the  spaces  on  the  table.  Put  a  pea  on  the  free 
ends  of  both  these  sticks  and  another  stick  across, 
and  we  have  a  little  musical  instrument,  —  the 
triangle  that  we  use  for  marching.  Now,  with 
another  stick  and  two  peas  for  a  handle,  make 
the  rod  for  striking  it,  and  we  will  beat  them  in 
perfect  time  with  a  song,  first  giving  each  child 
a  bit  of  worsted  from  which  to  suspend  his  tri- 
angle. After  this,  the  child  may  make  acute  and 
obtuse  angles,  the  various  quadrilaterals  and  poly- 


PEAS   WORK  247 

gons,  and  from  these  will  naturally  pass  to  skele- 
ton solids,  the  cube  being  commonly  the  first 
attempted. 

Before  he  is  able  to  construct  the  skeleton 
solids,  however,  or  the  elaborate  life  Forms  of 
forms,  a  number  of  small  objects,  such  ^^®" 
as  garden  tools,  farming  tools,  household  imple- 
ments, picture  frames,  flags,  banners,  etc.,  may  be 
made,  and  will  be  found  not  so  very  difficult  of 
construction,  while  they  will  be  most  serviceable 
in  interpreting  man's  labor  and  achievements  to 
the  child.  The  value,  in  Froebel's  opinion,  of 
making  all  these  life  forms  is  shown  by  the  motto 
of  the  "  Little  Artist,"  in  the  "  Mother  Play :  "  — 

"  If  your  child  learns,  from  anything  he  makes, 
To  study,  somewhat,  thing's  that  lie  around,  — 
Follow  creative  voice  whene'er  it  wakes,  — 
The  building  of  a  rich  new  world  he  's  found." 

The  great  attraction  of  the  more  elaborate  life 
forms  is  that  they  resemble  the  objects  made  with 
the  blocks  in  their  reality,  and  have  the  added 
charm  (which  they  share  in  some  degree  with 
folding  and  cardboard  modeling)  that  they  are 
"  practicable,"  so  to  speak,  and  can  be  moved 
about  on  the  table.  They  cannot  be  made,  how- 
ever, by  the  youngest  children,  and  present  some 
difficulties  even  to  older  persons,  on  account  of 
their  irritating  tendency  to  become  unsteady  and 
wavering  on  their  legs,  or  to  bend  sadly  over,  like 
Pisa's  leaning  tower.     Wires  and  corks  hold  to- 


248  PEAS   WORK 

gether  more  firmly  than  peas  and  sticks,  and  for 
delicate  forms  wires  may  be  used  with  the  peas. 
The  little  objects  are  often  very  much  improved 
by  the  addition  of  tinfoil,  which  wraps  so  firmly 
around  the  sticks  and  serves  as  a  seat  to  the  chair, 
a  top  to  the  table,  a  glass  for  the  bureau,  or  a 
mattress  for  the  bed.  Wheels  may  be  made  out 
of  button  moulds  for  the  tiny  wagons,  carts,  and 
wheelbarrows,  and  fastened  to  the  axle  with  small 
peas,  so  that  they  will  really  turn ;  and  no  child 
who  has  ever  made  one  of  these  vehicles  and 
trundled  it  along  the  table  with  Shem  and  his 
wife  from  the  Noah's  ark,  elegant  and  impassive 
upon  the  seat,  but  would  look  upon  the  chariot  of 
the  gods  as  a  shabby  affair  in  comparison. 

It  is  needless  to  tell  of  the  number  of  life  forms 
which  may  be  made  with  peas  work,  for  their 
name  is  legion  when  kindergartner  and  children 
are  provided  with  sufficient  stores  of  ingenuity 
and  patience.  Doll's  furniture,  however,  is  al- 
ways especially  enjoyed,  and  a  delightful  group- 
work  exercise  is  to  furnish  four  rooms  in  a  paste- 
board doll-house,  the  various  pieces  of  furniture 
being  apportioned  to  the  different  classes  accord- 
ing to  their  age  and  ability,  and  the  work  being 
executed  in  successive  lesson  periods  for  several 
weeks. 

The  buildings  the  older  children  construct, 
houses,  barns,  dog-kennels,  etc.,  may  very  well  be 
used  in  the  sand-table  and  serve  as  a  group-work 


PEAS    WORK  249 

illustration  of  the  life  of  the  farmer.  Here,  too, 
the  farm  and  garden  tools,  the  hayracks,  carts, 
and  barrows  may  be  used,  while  the  roads,  gar- 
den plots  and  flower  beds  may  be  outlined  with 
peas,  the  fences  made  of  peas  work  and  the  fields 
and  barnyards  filled  with  white  sheep  and  cows, 
which  are  easily  made  of  a  bit  of  cotton  pulled 
into  shape,  with  sticks  for  legs,  and  eyes  of  ink. 

The  work  which  may  be  done  with  peas  and 
sticks  in  plane  geometry  has  already  Geometrical 
been  mentioned,  and  much  information  ^°^^' 
as  to  the  skeletons  of  solids  is  gained  in  the  mak- 
ing of  life  forms,  which  must  all  be  framed  on  a 
basis  of  forms  of  knowledge.  Peas  work,  how- 
ever, except  in  its  simplest  forms,  requires  much 
patience  and  much  manual  skill,  and  it  is  not  pos- 
sible for  children  under  six  years  to  succeed  well 
in  making  the  difficult  geometrical  figures  ;  those, 
for  instance,  which  are  many-sided,  and  which 
show  the  development  of  one  form  from  another. 
"  It  will  be  reserved,"  as  Wiebe  says,  "  for  the 
primary,  and  even  a  higher  grade  of  school,  to 
proceed  farther  on  the  road  indicated,  and  in  this 
manner  prepare  the  pupil  for  a  clear  understand- 
ing of  regular  bodies." 

"  The  interior  of  things  is  known  only  by  its 
exterior  manifestations,"  says  Froebel,  Relation  of 
"and   the    skeleton   bodies   made   with  foCry^Jai^ 
sticks  and  peas  are  so  much  more  in-  ^<*fin^*P^y- 
struct! ve  as  they  allow  the   observation  of   the 


250  PEAS   WORE 

outer  form  in  its  outlines,  and  at  the  same  time 
bring  to  view  the  inner  structure  and  being  of 
the  body."  All  the  regular  solids,  the  octahe- 
dron, dodecahedron,  tetrahedron,  square  pyramid, 
etc.,  as  well  as  all  forms  of  crystals,  may  be  imi- 
tated, and  "  not  only  their  outward  contours,  but 
their  imaginary  axes,  diagonals,  and  planes  can 
be  easily  represented,  and  therefore  the  peas  work 
is  capable  of  being  made  an  auxiliary  of  immense 
importance  in  teaching  solid  geometry,  crystal- 
lography, and  stereometry."  ^ 

Its  value  in  the  school  will  be  evident  from 
Employ-        what  has  already  been  said,  for  as  a 

ment  in  the  .  . 

School.  quiet  occupation  devoted,  perhaps,  to 
the  making  of  letters  and  numbers,  the  working 
out  of  problems  written  on  the  blackboard,  the 
constructing  of  geometrical  solids,  the  inventing 
of  symmetrical  figures,  borders,  and  "  practica- 
ble "  life  forms,  it  is  eminently  well  suited.  Its 
great  cheapness  is  another  point  in  its  favor,  for 
the  boys  will  delight  to  whittle  out  the  sticks  of 
different  lengths,  which  they  may  tie  up  in  pack- 
ages of  one  hundred  each,  and  the  peas  are  of 
very  trifling  cost,  and  may  easily  be  raised  by  the 
children,  if  there  is  a  garden  plot  attached  to  the 
school.  Dr.  W.  N.  Hailmann's  "  Primary  Helps  " 
will  be  a  useful  book  to  teachers  who  have  no 
practical  knowledge  of  the  occupation,  and  a  com- 
pletQ  set  of  plates  illustrating  the  various  forms 

1  Hermann  Goldammer,  The  Kindergarten,  page  138. 


PEAS   WOEK  251 

which  can  be  made   may  be  had  of  the  kinder- 
garten supply  stores. 

Peas  work  is  obviously  a  union  of  two  gifts, 
the  eighth  and  tenth  (or  straight  line  ysImb  of 
and  point),  and  while  it  ensures  famil-  ^^^^^o""*^- 
iarity  with  geometrical  forms,  and  is  closely  asso- 
ciated with  the  study  of  crystals,  it  develops  the 
artistic  taste  of  the  child  and  his  power  of  inven- 
tion, and  trains  his  hand  and  eye.  It  is  also  near 
akin  to  modeling,  which  it  precedes  in  the  regu- 
lar order  of  development  of  the  occupations,  and 
gives  the  outline  or  skeleton  of  the  form  which 
we  subsequently  fill  out  with  the  clay.  It  is  of 
great  use  in  perspective  drawing,  as  it  shows  so 
clearly  the  principles  upon  which  the  latter  art  is 
based,  and  Goldammer  suggests  that  it  take  the 
place  of  the  expensive  apparatus  used  for  the 
purpose,  which  few  schools  can  procure  in  suffi- 
cient quantity,  and  thus  by  employing  wires,  and 
balls  of  clay  or  cork,  each  child  can  construct 
his  own  models  in  a  few  minutes. 

All  the  work  with  sticks  and  peas  in  the  kin- 
dergarten is  rich  with  opportunities  for  ^^^-^^^  ^nd 
stories  and  songs.  As  for  the  sticks,  ^°"^* 
suggestions  for  talks  on  wood  were  given  in  the 
chapter  on  slat  weaving  and  in  that  portion  of 
a  previous  volume  devoted  to  the  eighth  gift.^ 
Some  of  the  sweetest  stories  ever  written  by  mas- 

1  RepuUic  of  Childhood,  Vol.  I.,  FroeheVs  Gifis,  pages  149- 
151. 


252  PEAS   WOBK 

ters  in  the  art  can  be  used  in  connection  with  the 
pea,  as,  for  instance,  George  Macdonald's  "  Story 
of  the  Seeds  "  in  "  David  Elginbrod,"  Andersen's 
tale  of  "  Five  Peas  in  a  Pod,"  and  the  chapter  on 
"  Treasure  Boxes  "  from  Jane  Andrews's  "  The 
Story  Mother  Nature  Told."  Then  there  is  the 
lovely  "  Legend  of  the  Sweet  Pea,"  and  for  fitting 
plays  and  songs  we  have  Emelie  Poulsson's  "  In 
My  Little  Garden  Bed,"  "The  Great  Brown 
House ;  "  Froebel's  "  Little  Gardener  "  and  "  Gar- 
den Gate ;  "  and  "  Storm  and  Sunshine  "  and 
"Rain  Song"  from  "Kindergarten  Chimes." 
All  our  music-books  hold  charming  plays  and 
songs  on  the  subject;  for  planting,  gardening, 
rain  and  sunshine,  springtime,  germination,  and 
growth,  are  favorite  subjects  in  the  kindergarten. 


CLAY   MODELING 

Materials  :  Clay,  which  can  be  bought,  powdered  or  in  bricks, 
and  mixed  to  the  proper  consistency,  or  which  can  be  found 
ready  prepared  at  a  pottery.^ 

According  to  Greek  mythology,  Prometlieus, 
the  wise,  the  all-knowing,  was  the  first  Antiquity 
sculptor,  for  he  formed  men   of   clay,   o^*^®^"^- 
mixing  it  with  water  from  the  rivers  and  fashion- 
ing them  in  the  image  of  the  gods. 

There  is  an  ancient  Greek  tradition,  too,  that  a 
potter's  daughter,  Core  by  name,  once  saw  upon 
the  wall  the  shadow  of  her  lover,  and,  as  he  was 
about  to  set  out  on  a  long  journey,  she  sought  to 
preserve  the  dear  image  by  sketching  its  outlines 
with  a  bit  of  charcoal.  The  devoted  father  then 
took  clay  from  the  pots  that  he  was  shaping,  and, 
to  make  it  more  enduring,  modeled  the  figure,  fol- 
lowing the  lines  traced  by  his  daughter,  and  thus, 
so  goes  the  legend,  originated  the  art  of  modeling 
in  clay. 

"  It  is  incontestable,"  says  Goldammer,  "  that 
the  forming  of  shapes  in  soft  material  is  among 
the  most  primitive  occupations  of  the  human  race, 
and  that  it  served  as  the  point  of  departure  for 

^  Wax  is  also  used  for  kindergarten  modeling. 


254  CLAY  MODELING 

all  the  plastic  arts.  It  is,  therefore,  one  of  the 
best  means  for  carrying  out  Froebel's  idea,  that 
the  occupations  of  childhood  should  run  through 
a  course  similar  to  that  of  the  general  develop- 
ment of  human  civilization."  ^ 

Modeling  in  clay  is  as  old  as  weaving,  and 
corresponds  with  the  primeval  art  of  pottery. 
One  of  the  first  things  men  attempted  was  the 
fashioning  of  tools  and  weapons,  and  next,  as  the 
first  step  in  civilization,  came  the  making  of  re- 
ceptacles, such  as  baskets  and  bags,  pots  and 
pans.  "  In  all  these  things  form  was  necessary, 
and  was  developed  by  means  of  art  and  industry. 
.  .  .  The  pots  had  to  be  moved  and  lifted,  and  so 
handles  were  added,  or  the  surface  was  roughened 
by  means  of  indentations,  and  of  additional  forms 
which  made  ornaments ;  and  then,  also,  marks 
were  put  upon  them,  to  distinguish  the  use  made 
of  the  different  pots  and  the  different  contents, 
which  ultimately  led  to  the  most  elaborate  decora- 
tion." 2  By  and  by  some  bright  spirit,  who  had 
noted  the  ease  with  which  objects  and  figures 
might  be  modeled,  their  durability,  and  the  fact 
that  they  were  equally  well  understood  by  all 
intelligences,  all  ages,  and  all  races,  conceived 
the  idea  of  applying  the  art  to  the  recording  of 
events,  and  thus  history  began  to  be  written  by 
means  of  sculpture.     As  the  materials  for  model- 

1  Herman  Goldammer,  The  Kindergarten,  Part  II.,  page  147. 

2  L.  Alma-Tadema,  R.  A. 


CLAY  MODELING  255 

ing  are  everywhere  found,  these  being  merely 
the  universal  elements  and  the  tools  of  Nature, 
so  every  primeval  people  has  taken  it  up  and 
used  it  for  art,  for  industry,  or  for  both  purposes 
united. 

Edwin    A.    Spring   says:    "With  a   few  ex- 
ceptions,  lauffhed   at   as    mere   child's  oeiightof 

,  1.1.  1  •  e    ChUdrenin 

sport,  or  remembered  m  biographies  of  Modeling, 
artists  as  indications  of  genius,  clay  modeling 
was,  until  Friedrich  Froebel's  time,  a  technical 
process  in  the  art  of  sculpture."  It  was  the 
founder  of  the  kindergarten,  he  who  believed  in 
the  parallel  development  of  the  child  and  the 
race,  and  who  had  observed  the  delight  of  little 
ones  in  playing  in  mud,  in  dough,  in  putty,  in 
wax,  —  in  any  plastic  substance,  —  who  seized 
upon  clay  modeling,  systematized  it,  and  made  it 
of  greatest  use  in  education.  There  is  no  kin- 
dergarten occupation,  in  our  experience,  which  is 
so  gladly  welcomed  and  so  universally  beloved,  as 
modeling.  Eyes  begin  to  beam,  and  hands  are 
clapped  as  soon  as  it  is  seen,  while  there  is  a  soft 
chorus  all  aroimd  the  little  company,  —  "Oh, 
clay,  clay,  clay !  "  Sleeves  are  rolled  up  as  high  as 
they  will  go,  disclosing  every  variety  of  wrist  and 
elbow  (and  a  multiplicity  of  home  ideals  in  regard 
to  personal  cleanliness),  and  fingers  fairly  twitch 
with  impatience  to  plunge  themselves  into  the  soft 
mass.  The  universal  desire  at  first  seems  to  be 
to  slap  and  to  pat  it,  and  it  is  just  as  well  to  pro- 


256  CLAY  MODELING 

vide  some  exercise  which  shall  gratify  the  passion, 
since,  if  given  full  swing  for  a  time,  it  is  much 
more  likely  to  exhaust  itself. 

There  is  absolutely  no  objection  —  psychologi- 
cal, physiological,  hygienic,  artistic,  or  spiritual 
—  to  be  made  to  the  occupation,  and  yet  one  oc- 
casionally meets,  in  the  kindergarten,  parents  who 
forbid  their  children  its  use,  for  fear  that  they 
may  soil  their  clothing !  There  is,  in  fact,  little 
danger  of  soiling  the  clothing  with  clay,  and  none 
at  all  (as  is  sometimes  suggested)  of  its  injuring 
the  skin.  It  will  do  no  harm  even  to  the  most 
delicate  of  fabrics,  and,  even  if  it  did,  the  ques- 
tion must  be  decided  as  to  whether  the  child  is  to 
exist  for  the  sake  of  the  clothes,  or  the  clothes 
for  the  child. 

Teachers  also  sometimes  object  to  modeling,  on 
the  ground  that  it  makes  the  room  and  the  tables 
untidy,  but  this  objection  (a  puerile  one  in  any 
case)  may  be  reduced  to  a  minimum,  if  the  work 
is  properly  carried  on. 

The  common  gray  clay  which  costs  two  or  three 
Mixing  and     ccuts   a   pouud   is    quitc    e^ood  enough 

Caringfor         „  _.      ^  _    ..   ^  _^  ° 

the  Clay.  tor  Ordinary  modeling,  and  may  usually 
be  bought  ready  mixed  at  the  larger  art  stores. 
A  better  quality  —  the  artists'  clay  in  bricks,  or 
clay  flour  in  boxes — may  be  had  at  the  kindergar- 
ten supply  stores  at  five  cents  a  pound ;  but  we 
have  commonly  used  a  yellowish,  powdered  clay, 
very  much  cheaper  than  either  of  these,  such  as 


CLAY  MODELING  257 

can  be  bought  washed  but  unmixed  at  any  manu- 
factory of  drain  and  sewer  pipes.  Enough  of  this 
clay  to  last  fifty  children  a  year  can  be  bought 
for  a  dollar  or  two,  so  the  objection  of  expense 
of  material,  which  is  sometimes  made,  disappears 
at  once.  An  easy  way  to  mix  the  powdered 
clay  is  to  tie  it  up  in  a  cloth  like  a  pudding, 
and  put  it  to  soak  in  water  enough  to  cover 
it.  After  it  has  been  immersed  an  hour  or  so, 
knead  it  smooth  without  untying  the  cloth,  or 
work  it  with  a  wooden  pestle,  and  then  examine 
the  result.  It  is  difficult  to  explain  in  words 
just  how  it  will  feel  if  it  is  in  good  condition  for 
working,  but  it  must  not  be  wet  enough  to  stick 
to  the  hand,  nor  dry  enough  to  feel  hard  and 
"  crumbly."  Of  course  either  difficulty  is  easily 
remedied,  and  experience  will  familiarize  one  with 
the  elastic  feeling  it  has  when  it  is  just  right, 
and  with  the  requisite  oily,  glistening  look  it  has 
when  smoothed.  Clay  in  lumps  or  bricks  may  be 
broken  in  small  pieces  and  prepared  as  above,  but 
of  course  requires  more  kneading.  All  scraps  and 
fragments  left  from  work,  all  failures  and  experi- 
ments, if  kept  clean,  can  be  returned  to  the  stock 
and  again  moistened,  for  the  more  clay  is  worked 
over,  the  smoother  and  finer  it  grows.  It  is  gen- 
erally better  to  prepare  it  the  day  before  the  mod- 
eling exercise,  and  it  should  always  be  covered 
when  not  in  use  with  several  thicknesses  of  damp 
cloth,  or  enameled  cloth,  while  if  kept  in  a  large 


258  CLAY  MODELING 

tin  box,  a  wooden  box  lined  with  zinc,  or  a  stone 
jar,  it  will  remain  in  much  better  condition. 
The  tables  are  covered  with  enameled  cloth  by 
some  kindergartners  for  the  clay  work. 

Enameled         i      ,     ^i  •       •  .  -j-  il 

Cloth,  but  this  IS   scarcely  necessary  if   each 

Modeling  ,  -n   i  •  i     i        •   i  -it 

Boards,  and  child  be  providcd  With  a  large  modeling 
board,  which  should  be  quite  smooth, 
and  surrounded,  if  possible,  with  a  raised  edge 
or  rim.  Then  if  the  sleeves  are  pushed  up,  there 
need  be  no  soiling  of  clothing,  and  if  the  children 
are  properly  trained,  no  clay  will  be  dropped  on 
tables  or  floor,  while  every  crumb  not  employed 
in  the  exercise  will  be  saved  and  worked  over 
again.  Large  slates  are  also  sometimes  used  as 
modeling  boards,  but  have  the  disadvantage  of 
breaking  rather  easily  if  too  much  pressure  is 
laid  upon  them ;  and  some  kindergartners  allow 
the  children  to  model  upon  the  enameled  cloth, 
without  boards.  No  tools  are  needed  for  the 
kindergarten  clay  work,  —  that  "  wonderful,  God- 
given  instrument  the  hand,  with  its  useful  thumb, 
its  delicate  and  slender  fingers,  its  large  and  clasp- 
ing palm,"  being  all  that  we  require.  When  the 
modeling  is  more  advanced,  however,  the  kinder- 
gartner  may  produce  her  own  simple  box  of  tools 
and  lend  one  now  and  then  to  the  child,  who  can 
use  it  for  some  especially  delicate  bit  of  work. 
All  we  require  then,  for  the  occupation,  is  properly 
prepared  clay,  two  hands,  and  a  board  to  work 
on,  —  and,  yes,  one  thing  more,  —  we  do  need 


CLAY  MODELING  259 

strings  (fine  druggist's  twine)  cut  in  lengths  of 
about  ten  inches,  to  divide  the  various  geometrical 
solids,  to  cut  whenever  necessary,  and  sometimes 
to  separate  the  modeled  object  from  the  board 
when  it  sticks  too  tightly. 

Kindergarten  modeling  is  never  so  useful,  so 
well-systematized,  nor  so  agreeable  to  ModeUngon 
the  child,  in  our  estimation,  as  when  it  ca?iwS^ 
is  conducted,  as  Froebel  advised,  upon  ***'°* 
geometric  principles.  When  so  conducted,  it 
corresponds  perfectly  with  the  child's  gift  work, 
strengthens  every  impression  that  has  been  made 
upon  him  by  other  instrumentalities,  and  provides 
a  graded  series  of  exercises  which  may  always  be 
adapted  to  his  individual  needs,  and  which  insure 
his  progress.  When  the  modeling  is  not  con- 
ducted on  a  geometrical  plan,  it  is  likely  to  be 
vague  and  desultory,  and  because  it  proposes  to 
itself  no  particular  end  to  its  journey,  never  gets 
anywhere  at  all.  The  form  which  the  child  mod- 
els one  day  may  be  as  much  too  simple  for  him  as 
the  next  exercise  is  too  difficult,  —  the  one  is  un- 
interesting, the  other  discouraging,  —  there  is  no 
connection  between  the  two  and  no  suggestion  of 
the  third,  which  is  to  come. 

When  a  geometric  plan  is  followed,  the  children 
begin  with  the  sphere  and  spherical  objects,  then 
model  the  prolate  and  oblate  spheroids,  the  ovoid, 
and  the  forms  most  closely  resembling  them, 
which  series  of  objects  will  occupy  them  during 


260  CLAY  MODELING 

the  entire  time  they  are  studying  the  first  gift  and 
the  sphere  of  second  gift.  Now,  as  they  under- 
stand the  clay  better  and  can  handle  it  more  per- 
fectly, they  begin  upon  the  cube  and  cylinder  and 
their  related  forms,  and  progress  to  the  cone,  the 
pyramid,  and  the  various  prisms,  always  moulding 
the  typical  solid  first,  and  then  a  series  of  life 
forms  based  upon  it,  allowing  the  children  to  select 
those  which  are  nearest  their  interest  or  fancy. 
This  method  is  clear,  coherent,  and  systematic, 
and  while  it  gives  play  to  the  child's  creative 
powers  in  the  life  forms  which  are  modeled,  it 
strongly  insists,  at  the  same  time,  upon  the  "  con- 
structive principle  "  of  the  "  external  universe." 
Some  artists  insist  that  only  natural  forms  should 
be  modeled  in  the  kindergarten,  —  as  fruits,  flow- 
ers, and  vegetables,  —  but  if  the  object  of  kin- 
dergarten modeling  is  not  to  learn  a  "  technical 
process  in  the  art  of  sculpture,"  but  to  give  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  form,  to  encourage  ex- 
haustive observation,  and  to  afford  a  plastic  me- 
dium for  the  expression  of  ideas,  —  if  the  latter 
theory  be  true,  then  it  would  appear  to  be  quite 
as  proper  for  the  child  to  model  a  lunch  basket 
as  an  orange. 

The  babies  will  probably  make  several  efforts 
First  Model-  bcforc  they  are  able,  unassisted,  to  roll 

ing  Exer-  iti  i  i  i  •!• 

cises.  and  mould  the  shapeless   clay  in  their 

hands  until  they  produce  a  ball.  Another  exercise 
may  be  devoted  to  making  two  balls  of  different 


CLAY  MODELING  2G1 

sizes,  which  they  should  do  without  help  from 
the  kindergartner.  These  may  be  provided  with 
strings,  which  are  thrust  deep  into  the  ball  and 
which  will  stay  firmly  if  allowed  to  dry  in  place. 
Next  a  great  variety  of  marbles  may  be  made, 
and  these  may  be  gayly  painted  if  desired,  and 
then  the  little  ones  may  experiment  on  making 
large  beads,  which  of  course  are  only  marbles, 
each  one  pierced  with  a  hole.  After  these  are 
dried,  they  may  be  colored  to  suit  the  fancy  or  left 
in  their  natural  state,  and  then  strung  on  cord  or 
ribbons  for  bracelets  and  necklaces,  or  combined 
with  straws  and  papers  for  long  chains. 

The  geometrical  solids  are  not  only  to  be 
moulded,  but  they  are  also  to  be  embedded  and 
impressed  in  order  that  they  may  be  more  fully 
understood.  The  child  is  always  delighted  to 
sink  his  wooden  ball  deep  in  a  mass  of  clay,  and 
to  observe  the  rounded  cavity  it  leaves  when 
drawn  out.  All  the  solids  are  to  be  treated  in 
this  way,  and  they  are  also  to  be  impressed  upon 
thick  smooth  slabs  of  clay,  the  impressions  gener- 
ally being  made  in  the  form  of  an  invention,  which 
the  child  works  out  by  himself. 

The  first  essential  for  successful  kindergarten 
modeling  is  a  teacher  who  understands  Essentials 
the  nature  of  the  clay,  its  possibilities  gartenMod- 
and  limitations  as  a  material,  who  knows   ^^^' 
how  to  care  for  it  and  keep  it  in  condition,  who 
can  use  it  successfully  herself,  who  knows  how  the 


262  CLAY  MODELING 

children  should  use  it,  what  results  should  be  ex- 
pected from  them,  and  who  has  a  definite  plan  in 
mind  through  which  she  guides  the  work.  "If 
given  in  a  fit  condition  with  simple,  interesting 
forms  to  stimulate  the  children,  perfect  results  fol- 
low," says  the  Director  of  one  of  our  art  schools. 
"  The  response  to  touch  is  immediate  both  in  clay 
and  in  children." 

Upon  this  first  essential  depend  the  other  two, 
which  are  that  the  clay  should  be  given  out  in 
proper  condition,  and  that  there  should  be  models 
enough  for  all  to  see  and  handle. 

We  should  make  the  work  on  a  large  scale. 
Practical  "  ^^  children  are  set  to  making  petty 
Suggestions,  ^^jjg  ^^^  blossoms  and  miniature  fruit 
and  similar  silly  and  mean  work,  they  will  keep 
on  making  mean  things."  ^ 

Study  the  model  carefully  before  giving  out  the 
clay,  noting  its  general  shape,  its  characteristic 
and  important  details,  and  calling  upon  each 
child  to  point  out  any  individual  peculiarities  of 
his  particular  model. 

Teach  the  children  to  work  as  rapidly  as  possi- 
ble, and  not  "  fuss  "  and  "  putter  "  over  the  clay. 
We  are  not  aiming  at  careful  finish,  but  at  truth 
of  form. 

"  The  juice  of  the  clay  is  its  life-blood."  Teach 
the  child  to  handle  it  so  as  to  exhaust  this  as 
little  as  possible,  and  if  he  has  made  a  series  of 
1  Chas.  G.  Leland. 


CLAY  MODELING  263 

unsuccessful  experiments  with  one  lump  of  clay, 
remove  it,  and  give  him  a  fresh  one,  for  he  can 
do  nothing  with  material  in  poor  condition.^ 

After  the  first  exercises  in  rolling  and  patting 
are  over,  model  on  the  board.  Do  not  attempt  to 
keep  the  work  in  the  hands. 

Give  the  child  a  large  enough  lump  of  clay  for 
his  work,  so  that  he  can  take  off  a  piece  for  a 
reserve,  and  not  be  obliged  to  rob  one  part  of  his 
form  to  build  up  another  part. 

Respect  the  limitations  of  the  material  and  do 
not  try  to  adapt  it  to  purposes  for  which  it  is  not 
fitted.  Use  it  for  modeling  large  objects  with 
strong  outlines  and  little  detail. 

When  the  child  cannot  see  where  he  has  failed 
in  making  an  object,  let  him  foel  the  model  and 
find  out  its  peculiarities,  for  the  hand  wiU  some- 
times perceive  what  the  eye  has  failed  to  catch. 

Do  not  allow  the  child  to  smooth  the  surface  of 
the  object,  and  stroke  it  till  the  life  is  all  gone. 
You  cannot  imitate  the  velvet  cheek  of  the  peach 
in  clay,  —  you  can  only  reproduce  the  peach  form. 

"  See  that  in  joining  clay  to  clay  both  surfaces 
are  smooth.  Eagged  or  torn  surfaces  of  moist 
clay  will  not  adhere  together."  ^ 

Do  not  roll  out  strings  of  clay  and  stick  them 
on  the  modeled  objects  for  handles,  knobs,  roots, 

^  "Be  neat.     Keep  the  hands  free  from  dry  clay.     Do  not 
work  in  mud."     (Edwin  A.  Spring.) 
*  Edwin  A.  Spring. 


264  CLAY  MODELING 

stems,  and  leaves.  They  are  neither  lifelike  nor 
artistic,  and  have  the  added  disadvantage  of  en- 
during but  for  a  moment.  Many  things  can  be 
done  with  wax  or  papier  mache,  for  which  clay 
is  not  at  all  adapted.  It  is  impossible  and  unde- 
sirable to  make  a  clay  leaf  or  the  handle  of  a  cup 
as  fragile  as  the  models,  —  all  we  can  do  is  to  pro- 
duce the  general  form  and  the  characteristics. 

Model  the  edges  of  any  geometrical  solid,  as 
the  cube  for  instance,  with  the  fingers,  instead 
of  trying  to  get  them  by  slapping  it  on  a  board, 
or  cutting  it  with  a  string,  or  wire.  It  is  not 
desirable  that  the  clay  cube  should  look  as  if  it 
were  wood. 

Constantly  watch  the  children  in  their  work, 
asking  questions  which  shall  act  as  suggestions, 
and  when  necessary  show  the  class  with  the  clay 
how  the  thing  should  be  done. 

If  any  object  is  too  difficult  to  be  finished  in 
one  exercise,  scratch  the  child's  initials  on  it,  and 
lay  it  away  in  a  damp  cloth  in  a  covered  tin  box, 
until  the  next  lesson. 

Do  not  allow  the  children  to  move  the  models 
about  on  the  table.  Teach  them  to  place  and 
keep  the  object,  whatever  it  may  be,  in  one  posi- 
tion, and  to  model  it  as  it  looks  in  that  position. 

Do  not  try  to  imitate  detail,  as  every  vein  in  a 
leaf,  for  instance,  or  every  angle  in  its  serrate 
edge.  All  we  can  do  successfully  is  to  give  the 
general  character  of  the  leaf. 


CLAY  MODELING  265 

The  handle  of  an  object,  as  a  pitcher,  for  in- 
stance, is  best  modeled  out  of  the  lump  of  clay 
and  not  stuck  on  ;  but  if  the  latter  must  be  done, 
it  will  adhere  better  if  it  is  "  scratched  on,"  that 
is,  if  lines  are  made  in  the  clay  so  that  the  piece 
has  points  to  hold  to. 

Particularly  good  productions  of  the  children 
may  be  preserved  in  little  cabinets.  It  is  always 
well  to  have  such  a  collection  to  inspire  some  dis- 
couraged worker,  or  to  show  visitors  the  scope 
and  methods  of  kindergarten  clay  work. 

The  subjects  for  modeling  are  clearly  indicated, 
if  we  follow  a  geometrical  plan,  for  after  subjects 
the  children  have  modeled  any  solid,  and  eimg. 
have  embedded  and  impressed  its  different  faces, 
they  take  up  a  series  of  related  life  forms.  When 
they  have  made  the  sphere  successfully,  for  in- 
stance, they  mould  an  apple,  a  peach,  a  teakettle, 
a  round  lunch  basket;  when  they  have  studied 
the  cylinder  they  mould  a  cucumber,  a  drum,  or  a 
spool  of  thread,  always  selecting  common,  familiar 
objects,  of  which  models  can  easily  be  had.  When 
the  solids  have  been  modeled,  the  half-solids  and 
planes  are  to  be  considered,  with  the  examples 
under  them.^ 

The  older  children  are  quite  successful  with 
animals,  as  pigs,  ducks,  frogs,  elephants,  or  any 
creature   with   large,   strong  outlines   and   little 

1  Clay  Modeling  in  the  School  Boom,  by  Ellen  S.  Hildreth, 
gives  suggestions  as  to  these  typical  examples. 


266  CLAY  MODELING 

delicacy  of  finish.  The  legs  may  have  a  bit  of 
stick,  or  wire,  thrust  through  them,  to  keep  them 
steady,  though  we  advance  the  suggestion  with 
modesty,  for  we  know  that  some  persons  consider 
this  a  vicious  practice.  We  fail  to  see,  however, 
why  it  is  not  as  justifiable  for  the  child  to 
strengthen  the  legs  of  his  pig  with  a  stick  as  it  is 
for  the  sculptor  to  tie  Apollo's  lyre  in  position 
with  a  cord,  or  to  support  Jove's  commanding 
right  arm  with  an  iron  rod.  If  it  is  objected,  as 
it  often  is,  that  the  child  should  not  model  pigs  at 
all,  but  only  geometric  forms,  fruits,  vegetables, 
and  leaves,  vases,  forms  of  historic  ornament,  etc., 
we  can  only  answer  that,  in  our  conception  of  kin- 
dergarten clay  work,  a  pig  is  just  as  suitable  a 
subject  for  modeling  as  an  Etruscan  vase,  and 
might  have  an  even  more  vital  interest  to  a  small 
person  of  five  or  six  years. 

Most  of  the  more  difficult  objects  which  the 
child  models,  and  especially  the  objects  of  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  life,  are  to  be  made  on  a  base, 
or  thick  slab  of  clay,  as  it  injures  the  form  to 
attempt  to  lift  it  from  the  board  before  it  is  dry. 
The  slab,  however,  may  be  lifted  with  a  string 
without  injury  to  the  modeled  object. 

When  the  children  are  studying  the  geometric 
Tiles  and       solids,  they  may  make  thick  tiles  of  clay 

Paper-  „  .  -  ,  , 

Weights,  01  any  appropriate  shape,  square,  oblong, 
and  Vases,  triangular,  hexagonal,  or  octagonal,  and 
impress  their  invented  forms  upon  them.     These 


CLAY  MODELING  267 

may  be  dried  in  a  mildly  heated  stove,  and  the 
inventions  afterwards  painted  in  water  colors. 
Paper-weights  may  also  be  made  in  the  same  way. 
True,  this  is  not  sculpture,  but  the  work  is  pleas- 
ing to  the  children,  and  is  well  adapted  to  the 
material.  The  tiles  may  also  be  ornamented  with 
simple  leaves,  which  are  not  difficult  for  the  older 
children.  These  leaves,  however,  are  not  to  be 
laid  upon  a  piece  of  clay,  and  cut  out  with  a 
modeling  knife  (as  is  sometimes  advised),  for  this 
is  like  drawing  with  a  stencil;  but  are  to  be 
modeled  just  as  one  would  a  potato,  from  looking 
at  the  subject.  Vases,  jugs,  and  urns  may  also 
be  made  and  decorated,  though  perfect  symmetry 
of  form  is  not  to  be  expected  here. 

Group  work  is  not  to  be  forgotten  in  clay 
modeling,  for  the  occupation  provides  Q^^up 
constant  opportunities  for  it.  When  ^'^^^' 
the  children  are  moulding  cubes,  for  instance,  they 
may  build  a  house  with  them  at  the  close  of  the 
exercise ;  they  may  make  their  beads,  of  equal  or 
graduated  sizes,  into  one  long  string  to  give  away, 
they  may  combine  in  coloring  the  marbles ;  they 
may  make  a  tea-set  together,  each  contributing 
one  article.  Many  of  the  objects  made  are  such 
pretty  playthings,  and  so  attractive,  that  they 
form  pleasant  gifts  for  a  sick  playmate,  who  is 
delighted  to  receive  a  box  of  marbles,  for  in- 
stance, from  the  members  of  his  class. 

There  are  a  number  of  kindergartens  that  have 


268  CLAY  MODELING 

special  modeling  rooms  among  their  other  con- 
Modeiing  venienccs,  and  though  these  are  not  ne- 
Rooms.  cessary,  they  are,  of  course,  both  useful 
and  pleasant.  Here  there  are  low  oil-cloth  cov- 
ered tables,  the  most  approved  fashion  of  model- 
ing boards,  a  closet  that  holds  the  large  clay  ves- 
sels, the  extra  stock  of  clay,  the  geometrical  and 
other  models,  the  strings,  and  the  kindergartner's 
tool  box ;  here  there  are  shelves  for  the  tin  boxes 
in  which  unfinished  work  is  kept,  glass-doored 
cabinets  for  successful  productions,  and  running 
water  for  all  the  little  hands  when  work  is  over. 
Here,  too,  the  baskets  or  boxes  are  kept  in  which 
the  work  is  taken  home,  for  experience  has  shown 
that  "  unmerciful  disaster  "  generally  waits  upon 
the  attempt  to  take  it  home  in  the  hands. 

There  is  a  marked  dearth  of  stories  and  songs 
stories  which  might  be  useful  for  clay  work, 

Conversa-*^  for  the  former  only  two  now  occurring 
*^°"'-  to  us,  —  Miss  Sara  Wiltse's  "  Grandma 

Kaoline,"  and  Ouida's  "  Child  of  Urbino,"  which 
is  to  be  found  in  "  Bimbi,"  her  volume  of  chil- 
dren's stories.  There  are  no  really  good  model- 
ing songs,  except  "  Pat-a-Cake,"  perhaps,  though 
most  of  us  have  something  which  we  have  long 
used,  but  have  thought  scarcely  good  enough  for 
publication.  There  is  unlimited  material,  how- 
ever, for  talks  and  conversations,  and  if  we  could 
take  the  children  to  a  pottery,  and  let  them  see 
the  wonderful  potter's  wheel  in  operation,  a  well- 
spring  of  inspiration  would  be  provided. 


CLAY  MODELING  269 

"  The  child  needs  first,"  says  Dr.  C.  C.  Van 
Liew,  "  a  means  of  expression  that  will  y^^^  ^f 
respond  easily  and  rapidly  to  both  his  ^<^®^8:- 
physical  and  mental  individuality,  and  which 
shall  accord  more  perfectly  with  one  of  Froebel's 
soundest  principles,  the  spontaneity  of  the  child's 
activity." 

This  means  of  expression  is  supplied  by  the 
clay,  —  a  quiet,  pliable  substance,  drawn  from 
Mother  Nature's  own  great  storehouse,  the  sim- 
plest of  all  the  kindergarten  materials,  and  the 
one  which  offers  least  resistance.  Work  with  the 
clay  foUows  the  natural  order  of  form  study, 
which  is  first  to  make  a  form  in  three  dimensions, 
and  as  it  uses  "a  language  which  appeals  gen- 
erally to  all  intelligences,  it  surely  is  wise,"  as 
Spring  says,  "  to  use  it  as  one  means  of  training." 

Again,  as  he  points  out,  "  neatness,  skill  in  con- 
trolling both  hands,  and  a  knowledge  of  many 
properties  of  matter,  can  very  easily  be  gained  by 
all  children  through  playing,  while  the  few  who 
are  born  artists  will  expand  in  natural  growth 
from  the  beginning."  Clay  work  is  easy  for 
the  child,  —  very  easy  in  its  first  stages,  —  for  it 
responds  to  the  lightest  touch,  and  offers  little 
resistance  to  weak,  untrained  hands.  There  is 
great  difference  in  the  natural  ability  of  children 
to  model,  and  'this  difference  seems  to  be  both 
individual  and  racial,  the  Italian  and  Mexican 
children,    in    our    experience,    showing    marked 


270  CLAY  MODELING 

superiority  in  the  art.  Those  who  are  least  suc- 
cessful, however,  evidently  need  it  most,  and, 
fortunately,  there  is  little  room  for  discourage- 
ment, however  unobservant  and  unskillful  one  may 
be,  for  it  is  impossible  to  spoil  the  generous  mate- 
rial. Clay  modeling,  in  fine,  in  its  relation  to  art 
and  industry,  in  its  cultivation  of  the  powers  of 
observation  and  expression,  in  its  training  of  the 
hand  and  eye,  and  in  its  appeal  to  the  natural 
delights  and  instincts  of  the  child,  stands  pre- 
eminent among  the  kindergarten  occupations. 

SIXTEEN  REASONS  WHY  CLAY  MODELING  SHOULD  BE 
ENCOURAGED  IN  THE  PRIMARY  GRADES  OF  THE  PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS. 

1st.  Because  some  form  of  manual  training,  some  study 
of  things  through  the  making  of  them,  is  a  necessary  ad- 
junct to  an  intelligent  system  of  education. 

2d.  Because  modeling  in  clay  is  that  form  of  manual 
training  best  suited  to  the  early  years  of  childhood  ;  being 
a  non-resistant,  plastic  material,  it  yields  to  the  slightest 
touch. 

3d.  Because  clay  is  a  plastic  medium  ;  it  is  the  one  best 
adapted  to  acquaint  the  child  with  a  knowledge  of  form, 
size,  and  proportion.  He  cannot  increase  or  diminish  size 
and  mass  in  wood  or  paper  with  the  same  ease  and  con- 
venience. 

4:th.  Because  it  is  the  least  expensive  material  that  can 
be  supplied  to  such  a  vast  army  of  children  as  the  primary 
school  must  provide  for,  and  from  which  anything  like  sat- 
isfactory results  can  be  obtained. 

5th.  Because  all  modeling  in  clay  as  it  is  conducted  in  the 
(Chicago)  public  schools  is  done  without  use  of  tools,  only 


CLAY  MODELING  271 

the  fingers  and  hands  being  used.  It  therefore  has  for  its 
direct  aim  the  training  of  the  intelligence  of  the  child,  de- 
veloping touch,  power  to  grasp  and  handle,  side  by  side 
with  cultivation  of  individual  observation  and  perception. 

6th.  Because  it  promotes  the  self -activity  of  the  child, 
and  throws  him  upon  his  own  resources  of  doing  and 
making. 

7th.  Because  form  study  must  be  the  basis  for  an  intelli- 
gent study  of  geography  and  mathematics,  and  form  study 
unaccompanied  by  making  is  but  partial  and  unsatisfactory. 
Since  the  earth  is  not  a  pancake,  all  study  of  geography 
and  mathematics  that  does  not  include  a  study  of  the  third 
dimension  is  time  wasted  and  imagination  perverted  ;  for 
an  appreciation  of  the  third  dimension  depends  on  actual 
knowing  through  doing  and  making. 

8th.  Because  nature  and  philosophy  declare  the  neces- 
sity of  each  individual  acquiring  an  experience  of  his  own, 
a  something  which  in  educational  matters  can  only  be 
acquired  through  producing  or  reproducing  something  in- 
dependently, each  for  himself. 

9th.  Because  the  child  under  twelve  is  not  the  adult,  the 
reasoning  faculties  are  in  abeyance  and  the  sense  percep- 
tions, such  as  touch  and  sight,  are  in  the  ascendency  ;  and 
it  is  through  the  cultivation  of  these,  by  means  of  handling 
materials,  that  his  mind  is  to  be  awakened  to  independent 
thinking  and  judgment. 

10th.  Because  the  tendency  to  pour  in  ready-made 
knowledge,  such  as  is  imparted  through  mere  reading  and 
writing,  is  to  make  the  child  a  passive  receptacle,  with  an 
eagerness  to  accept  the  opinions  of  others  rather  than  to 
formulate  ideas  of  his  own. 

11th.  Because  all  promotion  of  a  child's  activity  is  a 
preservation  of  him  as  a  free,  intelligent,  conscious  being. 

12th.  Because  the  mind  of  the  child  can  assimilate  only 
so  much  of  abstract  information  ;  he  therefore  may  work 
hours  with  such  arbitrary  symbols  as  those  employed  in 


272  CLAY  MODELING 

reading  and  writing  without  receiving  a  new  idea  or  having 
his  individual  experience  enlarged. 

13th.  Because  excessive  dealing  with  such  symbols,  un- 
balanced by  hand  work,  tends  to  make  a  child  a  machine,  a 
parrot-like  creature. 

14th.  Because  the  development  of  general  intelligence 
in  a  child  counts  for  more  than  any  amount  of  abstract 
information. 

15th.  Because  reading  and  writing  and  arithmetic  are 
not  in  themselves  education  ;  they  are  the  means  to  an 
end,  not  the  end  ;  and  because  the  cultivation  of  the  taste 
through  a  study  of  form  and  development  of  the  imagina- 
tion is  a  necessity  to  right  choosing  of  what  to  read  or  write. 

16th.  Because  of  the  prominence  of  nervous  diseases  in 
children,  which  physicians  claim  is  the  result  of  automatic 
brain  action  insufficiently  vitalized  by  physical  activity.^ 

^  Kindergarten  Magazine,  April,  1893. 


MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS 

Chain  Making- ;   Bead  Stringing ;  Rolled  Strip  Work ;   Peg 
Tiles ;  Cardboard  Modeling. 

There  are  various  occupations  in  common  use 
in  the  kindergarten  which  have  not  been  men- 
tioned in  any  one  of  the  preceding  chapters,  since 
(with  the  exception  of  cardboard  modeling)  they 
seem  to  lie  somewhat  outside  of  Froebel's  scheme 
of  geometric  progression  from  point  to  solid. 

They  are  scarcely,  however,  separate  occupa- 
tions in  themselves,  but  rather  out-  outgrowths 
growths  from,  or  variations  of  those  00^?^°"* 
that  have  already  been  discussed,  and  ^^°^' 
as  the  principles  on  which  they  rest  have  thus 
been  fully  set  down,  we  need  here  only  treat  of 
their  practical  application. 

These  occupations  are  for  the  most  part  very 
simple  ones,  suitable  for  the  nursery  or  gi^npie 
for  the  younger  kindergarten  classes,  and  EmpTo7- 
though  they  afford  suitable  employment  ™®°^®- 
for  children  in  that  they  direct  their  "natural 
activity  to  the  attainment  of  definite  ends,"  while 
developing  a  certain  amount  of  skill,  yet  their 
scope  in  the  line  of  invention  is  comparatively 
small,  embracing  for  the  most  part  only  experi- 
ments in  color. 


274  MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS 


CHAIN   MAKING. 

Materials :  For  paper  chains,  strips  of  colored  paper  gummed 
at  one  end,  about  four  inches  long-  and  one  half  to  one  third  of 
an  inch  wide. 

The  paper  strips  for  chain  making  will  be  cut 
Material  for  of  the  requisite  length  and  width  at  any 
Chains.  paper  warehouse  for  a  trifling  sum,  or 
may  be  prepared  by  the  kindergartner  herself 
from  the  large  sheets  of  paper.  The  strips  used 
for  interlacing  may  also  be  cut  up  into  chain 
papers,  though  this  is  an  unnecessary  expense, 
for  the  work  of  preparing  them  is  very  simple 
and  can  well  be  done  by  the  advanced  kinder- 
garten classes.  The  younger  children  commonly 
receive  the  papers  already  gummed,  and  moisten 
them  with  a  bit  of  sponge  or  a  small  brush ;  ^ 
the  older  ones  are  allowed  to  put  on  the  paste  or 
mucilage  themselves  as  an  exercise  in  daintiness 
and  dexterity. 

All  little  children  take  the  sincerest  pleasure 
Delight  of  i^  making  chains  and  garlands,  whether 
cJjJJ'5^'!  these  be  of  flowers,  leaves,  nuts,  beans, 
^"^*  cones,    shells,   pods,    paper,    straw,   or 

beads,  and  they  delight  to  adorn  themselves  with 
the  products  of  their  skill  when  completed,  as  did 
their  savage  ancestors  once  upon  a  time. 

In  the  first   exercises   in   chain   making,  two 


^  At  least  this  is  the  intention,  but  the  method  of  Natiire  has 
an  irresistible  temptation  for  the  majority. 


MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS  275 

colors  of  paper  are  always  given,  and  a  little 
time  must  be  spent  in  sorting  them,  in  j-j^gj.  j-xer- 
explaining  the  necessity  of  alternating  ^^^' 
the  two  colors,  in  calling  attention  to  the  right 
and  wrong  sides  of  the  paper,  to  the  gummed 
ends,  to  the  proper  way  of  moistening  them,  and 
to  the  necessity  of  pressing  them  a  moment  after 
they  are  fastened.  We  must  make  haste  slowly 
in  these  preliminary  exercises,  for  the  children 
are  apt  at  first  to  moisten  the  papers  too  much, 
to  fasten  the  links  wrong  side  out,  to  lap  the  ends 
unevenly,  and  to  forget  the  alternation  of  colors. 
These  practical  details,  however,  are  soon  learned, 
and  they  can  usually  make  a  pair  of  bracelets  or 
a  necklace  the  first  time  they  use  the  occupation. 
If  only  a  few  links  have  been  made,  they  may 
be  labeled  and  put  away  until  the  time  for  chain 
making  again  comes  around,  for  it  is  generally 
found  that  the  children  care  little  for  so  short  a 
chain,  since  it  can  be  put  to  no  practical  use. 

As  dexterity  and  knowledge  are  gained,  a  va- 
riety of  colors,  their  shades  and  tints.  Later  Exer- 

-  .  , .    ,  ,     cises :  Group 

are  given  tor  the  various  links,  and  work, 
these  are  perhaps  first  fastened  together  accord- 
ing to  dictation,  and  later  the  child  is  encouraged 
to  combine  them  to  suit  his  own  taste.  The  occu- 
pation is  especially  adapted  to  group  work,  and 
the  children  often  devote  their  labors  to  that  end, 
combining  their  chains  to  decorate  the  walls,  to 
garland  the  Christmas  tree,  to  make  portieres,  or 


276  MISCELLANEOUS   OCCUPATIONS 

draperies  and  sash  curtains  for  the  windows.  It 
is  found  that  the  work  is  almost  invariably  ap- 
preciated even  by  the  rudest  and  most  ignorant 
mothers,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  home  which  the 
kindergartner  enters  where  she  fails  to  find  the 
children's  chains  carefully  preserved  and  hung 
upon  the  wall  out  of  reach  of  the  inevitable  pre- 
datory baby. 

STRAW   CHAINS. 

Materials :  White  and  colored  straws  three  quarters  of  an 
inch  to  an  inch  in  length ;  tiny  squares  and  circles  of  colored 
paper  (or  round  glass  beads)  ;  a  worsted  needle  and  heavy 
thread.  1 

Straw  chains,  sometimes  called  "  Daisy  chains," 
present  a  few  more  difficulties,  both  for  kinder- 
gartner and  children,  than  those  made  of  paper, 
but  they  are  very  pretty  and  somewhat  more  dur- 
able. 

The  straws  may  be  bought  by  the  box  ready 
Prepariug  ^ut  in  Suitable  lengths,  or  the  kinder- 
Materiais.  gartucr  may  cut  them  herself  from  the 
ten-inch  white  ones,  after  soaking  them  in  water 
a  short  time.  Colored  straws  may  also  be  used, 
of  course,  but  they  are  more  expensive,  and  are 
not  really  necessary,  as  the  charms  of  color  are 
supplied  by  the  papers.  These  are  commonly 
cut   by   the   kindergartner   from   her    odds   and 

^  In  stringing  beads  and  straws  a  very  fine  wire  may  be  used 
and  the  needle  dispensed  with. 


MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS  211 

ends  of  material,  a  boxful  being  constantly  kept 
in  store.  Each  child  must  be  supplied  with  a  deep 
tray,  a  box  or  dish  of  some  kind  to  hold  his 
straws  and  paper,  and  his  needle  is  usually  given 
to  him  ready  threaded,  and  the  thread  knotted  at 
one  end  and  tied  into  the  eye  at  the  other. 

He  must  be  directed  now  to  thrust  his  needle 
through  the  centre  of  one  of  the  papers  pi^at 
and  string  that  first,  for  if  a  straw  be  ^'■'^' 
first  used  it  will  probably  slip  over  the  knot. 
After  this  he  is  simply  to  go  on  stringing  straws 
and  papers  in  alternation,  until  the  chain  is  com- 
pleted, but  those  who  have  superintended  the 
occupation  wiU  probably  agree  with  us  that  sim- 
ply is  hardly  the  word  to  use  here,  for  the  pre- 
liminary difiiculties  which  surround  the  youth- 
ful workman  are  many  and  serious.  The  needle 
refuses  to  go  through  the  middle  of  the  paper ; 
the  paper  tears ;  it  is  strung  on  with  the  colored 
side  down ;  the  straw  splits ;  it  slips  over  the 
knot ;  the  knot  gives  way ;  the  needle  unthreads ; 
the  thread  breaks ;  the  chain  drops,  and  the 
straws  fall  off ;  the  boxes  are  upset  and  materials 
strewn  on  the  floor ;  the  chain  gets  entangled 
with  itself,  or  with  its  neighbor ;  directions  are 
forgotten,  and  twenty  straws  are  strung  with 
ne'er  a  paper  to  keep  them  company,  or  vice 
versa;  ...  we  need  scarcely  go  on,  for  experi- 
ence will  supply  all  omitted  details.  The  picture 
is  perhaps  painted  in  too  dark  tones,  however,  for 


278  MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS 

all  these  catastrophes  will  scarcely  occur  in  a 
single  exercise,  and  some  gifted  ones  among  the 
children  never  meet  with  any  of  them. 

The  making  of  straw  chains  has  certain  defi- 
vaiues  nite  values,  and  thous^h  more  difficult 

of  the  °, 

Occupation,  than  paper  chain  makmg,  is  somewhat 
more  educative.  The  child  gains  with  the  occu- 
pation a  more  definite  knowledge  of  position,  as 
the  centre  of  each  bit  of  paper  must  be  found 
with  eye  and  needle ;  his  attention  is  directed  to 
the  various  colors,  and  he  learns  to  alternate 
them  in  stringing  the  papers,  or  to  follow  a  cer- 
tain sequence  in  their  arrangement ;  and,  finally, 
he  receives  much  drill  upon  the  number  one. 

These  straw  chains  are  often  used  for  sash 
curtains  in  the  kindergarten,  and  if  longer  straws 
and  round  glass  beads  are  employed,  really  useful 
portieres  in  the  Japanese  style  may  be  made. 
Long  cylindrical  glass  beads  may  also  be  used, 
instead  of  straws  (but  of  course  are  vastly  more 
expensive),  and  with  these  materials  the  vexa- 
tious thread  and  needle  may  be  dispensed  with 
and  fine,  pliable  wire  used,  with  a  loop  or  twist 
at  one  end  to  hold  the  beads. 


MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS  279 

BEAD   STRINGING. 

Materials.'  Half -inch  wooden  beads  (spheres)  in  the  six 
colors  ;  half -inch  wooden  beads  (spheres,  cubes,  and  cylinders), 
both  colored  and  uncolored;  white  and  colored  glass  beads 
(spheres  and  cylinders). 

The  colored  wooden  spheres  which  supplement 
the  balls  of  the  first  gift  are  commonly  stringing 
strung  on  a   stout   shoe-lace,  the   tag  ^cond"** 
serving  as  needle,  and  are  used  for  color  ^^^  ^®**^'' 
and  number  work,  and  for  various  fanciful  plays, 
in  connection  with  the  balls. 

The  use  of  Mrs.  Hailmann's  second  gift  beads, 
spheres,  cubes,  and  cylinders,  is  described  in  a 
previous  volume,^  and  they  are  commonly  em- 
ployed to  deepen  the  impressions  of  contrast  of 
form,  gained  with  the  second  gift,  and  are  strung 
on  sticks,  on  shoe-laces,  or  wire,  or  used  in  sand- 
table  work.  The  child  plays  with,  and  uses  at 
his  pleasure,  these  beads,  illustrating  first  and 
second  gift  forms,  but  does  not  take  them  home, 
for  they  are  really  only  smaller  gifts,  and  as  such 
are  permanent  stock  and  for  all  children. 

Glass  beads  have  been  strung  in  the  nursery 
since  they  were  first  manufactured,  and  stringing 
most  of  us  can  recall  most  vividly  the  joy  ^^^  ^^'^'• 
with  which  we  wore  rings,  bracelets,  and  necklaces 
of  our  own  manufacture.  This  pleasure  of  the 
child  in  personal  decoration  is  a  perfectly  healthy 

^  Bepublic  of  Childhood,  Vol.  I.,  FroeheVs  Gifts,  pages  46  and 
50. 


280  MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS 

and  simple  one,  an  innocent  vanity  which  is  an 
instinct  and  an  inheritance,  and  as  such  deserves 
gratification  rather  than  suppression.  He  can 
learn  combination  of  color,  alternation  of  form  and 
size,  etc.,  with  the  beads,  while  stringing  them  for 
his  own  or  his  playmates'  adornment,  and  thus 
accomplish  a  variety  of  objects  at  one  time.  The 
stringing  of  glass  beads  has  never  been  a  uni- 
versal occupation  in  American  kindergartens,  to 
our  knowledge,  at  least,  but  it  is  very  common  in 
some  parts  of  Europe,  and  also  in  Japan.  If  fine, 
pliable  wire  be  used,  instead  of  needle  and  thread, 
the  work  becomes  very  simple,  and  the  articles 
made  have  the  advantage  of  durability.  As  vari- 
ous sizes,  a  great  number  of  colors,  and  at  least 
two  kinds  (spheres  and  cylinders)  of  beads  are 
to  be  had,  there  is  much  opportunity  for  variety 
of  arrangement;  and  symmetrical  forms,  as  well  as 
forms  of  vegetable  life,  —  flowers,  fruits,  leaves, 
etc.,  —  are  easily  made  with  them,  the  designs 
being  subsequently  sewn  into  place  on  paper  or 
cardboard. 

The   various   purposes   which    bead    stringing 
Value  of        may  serve  have  been  touched  upon  in 

Bead  "^  .  .  , 

Stringing.  the  iorcgoing  pages,  but  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  also  that  the  work  is  of  value  in  its 
equal  employment  of  both  hands,  and  that,  like 
all  the  other  occupations,  it  gives  free  play  to  the 
child's  activities,  and  leads  him  to  see  that  his 
productions  are  of  certain  definite  value. 


MISCELLANEOUS   OCCUPATIONS  281 

The  objection  to  bead  stringing,  as  it  is  some- 
times used,  is  evident  enough,  —  that  is,  objections 
the  minuteness  of  the  beads,  and  the  work, 
strain  on  the  eye  and  on  the  accessory  muscles  in 
picking  them  up,  holding  them,  finding  the  per- 
forations, and  stringing  them.  If  beads  no  larger 
than  those  commonly  used  for  embroidery  are  em- 
ployed in  the  kindergarten,  the  occupation,  in  our 
opinion,  becomes  unqualifiedly  harmful. 

BUSY   WORK  TILES. 

Materials :  Boards  six  inches  square,  drilled  with  holes  one 
half  inch  apart ;  wooden  peg«  one  inch  long,  in  the  six  colors. 

The  busy  work  tiles  were  invented  by  Mrs. 
Alice  H.  Putnam,  of  Chicago,  and  are  First  piays 
well  adapted  to  the  use  of  the  youngest  ^^'^  ^^^^ 
children,  being  employed  to  teach  elements  of 
color,  position,  direction,  and  number.  The  child 
is  given  a  tile  and  a  little  dish,  or  box  f uU  of 
pegs,  and  is  then  asked,  perhaps,  to  pick  out  all 
that  are  of  the  same  color  as  a  ball  held  up  by 
the  kindergartner,  and  to  put  them  in  the  holes, 
either  in  a  horizontal  line  across  the  tile,  or  in  a 
vertical  line  up  and  down  it.  A  second  line  of 
the  same  color  may  be  made,  and  then  another 
ball  matched,  and  so  on  until  the  tile  is  filled ;  or, 
if  the  colors  are  known  by  name,  directions  for 
the  different  rows  are  given.  Thus  the  six  colors 
may  follow  each  other  in  regular  order  on  each 
line ;  the  whole  tile  may  be  filled  with  one  color ; 


282  MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS 

the  colors  may  be  arranged  in  twos,  in  threes, 
in  fours,  etc.  ;  the  direction  of  the  lines  may 
be  changed,  as  vertical,  horizontal,  slanting;  or 
various  figures,  as  squares  and  oblongs,  may  be 
described  with  the  pegs.  Only  the  merest  sug- 
gestions are  necessary  as  to  the  use  of  the  busy 
work  tiles,  for  no  kindergartner  can  fail  to  under- 
stand their  capabilities  for  simple  exercises,  when 
once  she  has  seen  them.  They  may  be  used  to 
represent  a  flower  garden  sometimes,  a  double 
row  of  pegs  outlining  the  square  and  serving  as 
a  fence,  while  the  inner  holes  are  filled  with 
flowers ;  they  may  simulate  a  farm-yard,  and  the 
inclosure  be  filled  with  small  animals  from  a 
Noah's  ark,  —  it  matters  not  to  what  purpose  they 
be  devoted,  so  long  as  it  is  in  line  with  the 
general  thought,  and  such  as  to  interest  the  chil- 
Necessity  drcu.  Unlcss  the  tiles  be  used  with 
pian^S"*^  such  a  definite  purpose,  their  effect  upon 
their  Use.  ^^^  ^j^-j^  j^  positively  harmful.  Let  no 
one  suppose  that  the  little  one  is  learning  any- 
thing by  their  use,  when  he  carelessly  takes  up 
the  pegs,  without  regard  to  color,  and  sticks  them 
in  the  holes  automatically,  intent  only  upon  fin- 
ishing the  task.  Such  work  is  fit  for  a  ma- 
chine, but  not  for  a  human  being,  and,  if  long 
continued,  will  stifle  the  creative  and  expressive 
instincts. 


MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS  283 


ROLLED   STRIP  WORK. 

Materials:  Strips  of  colored  paper,  of  various  lengihs  and 
■widths,  such  as  are  used  for  intertwining  ;  Le  Page's  glue,  and  a 
wooden  slat,  or  brush. 

The  work  with  rolled  strips  is  not  as  com- 
monly seen  in  the  kindergarten  as  some  of  the 
other  occupations,  but  it  is  none  the  less  very- 
simple  and  pretty,  and  especially  pleasing  to  chil- 
dren, on  account  of  its  adaptability  to  the  produc- 
tion of  forms  of  life. 

In  a  somewhat  more  elaborate  form,  it  was 
popular  as   a   kind   of    "fancy  work"   Rolled  strip 

p  1     1  1  n  Work  an  old 

for  many  years,  and  though  seldom  seen  occupation. 
in  America  now,  is  still  in  use  in  a  few  places 
where  fashion  has  not  yet  introduced  newer  and 
less  laborious  handiwork.  All  kinds  of  fancy 
paper  were  used,  —  gold,  silver,  bronze,  black, 
white,  and  innumerable  bright  colors,  —  and  the 
strips,  which  varied  in  width  from  an  inch  to  an 
eighth,  and  even  a  sixteenth  of  an  inch,  were 
rolled  into  stout  cylinders  as  thick  as  one's  finger, 
or  into  tiny  ones  as  delicate  as  the  stem  of  a  vio- 
let. These  cylinders  were  afterwards  glued  to- 
gether to  produce  all  manner  of  forms,  animals, 
buildings,  leaves,  fruit,  flowers,  or  symmetrical 
designs,  and  the  gradations  in  the  height  and 
thickness  of  the  cylinders,  and  their  variety  in 
color,  made  very  elaborate  effects  possible.  Two 
panel  pictures,  illustrating  this  work,  about  three 


284  MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS 

feet  long  and  a  foot  or  so  wide,  are  familiar  to  us, 
and  were  made  in  an  English  convent  in  1639. 
One  is  a  coat  of  arms,  executed  in  colors  to  the 
minutest  detail,  surmounted  by  the  family  motto, 
and  surrounded  by  a  border  of  impossible  flowers, 
which  certainly  represent  a  year's  labor,  —  the 
other  a  most  fantastic  illustration  of  the  Apoc- 
alypse, with  the  seven  stars,  the  seven  candle- 
sticks, the  four  beasts,  the  tree  of  life,  and  as 
many  other  objects  as  could  be  crowded  into  the 
limited  space,  —  the  whole  wrought  out  in  rolled 
paper  strips. 

The  papers  used  for  this  occupation  in  the  kin- 
The  Rolled  dcrgartcu  may  be  bought  in  packages 
the^KiS-  at  the  supply  stores,  may  be  cut  by  the 
dergarten.  kin^ergartner,  or  can  often  be  pur- 
chased very  cheaply  in  large  quantities  at  print- 
ing houses,  or  wholesale  paper  stores,  as  the  waste 
left  from  cutting  sheets  of  a  certain  size  is  exactly 
what  we  require.  A  strip  one  half  inch  wide  and 
six  or  eight  inches  long  will  serve  for  the  first 
exercises  in  rolling,  and  quite  a  little  practice  is 
required  before  the  children  learn  to  moisten  the 
end  slightly,  in  order  to  take  the  stiffening  out  of 
the  paper ;  to  keep  the  glazed  side  out ;  to  hold 
the  strip  firmly,  and  roll  it  into  a  straight,  com- 
pact little  cylinder.  Even  the  first  efforts,  how- 
ever, though  they  be  comparatively  unsuccessful, 
are  not  without  their  pleasure,  for  they  are  used 
at  once  by  the  children  in  all  kinds  of  fanciful 


MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS  285 

plays,  and  serve  very  well  for  curls,  such  as  we 
used  to  make  with  dandelion  stems. 

By  and  by,  however,  the  art  of  rolling  is 
learned,  and  then  the  cylinders  are  j.^^^ 
pasted  tightly.  Now  they  serve  as  cans,  ^^  ^®' 
spools,  rolls  of  carpet,  oil-cloth,  or  matting,  and 
can  be  used  very  nicely  to  play  keeping  store, 
while  the  children  soon  learn  to  pull  out  one  end 
of  the  roU  in  conical  shape  and  make  it  into  a 
candle,  or  a  potato  masher.  One  of  the  greatest 
joys  of  the  occupation  is  to  make  j&re-crackers, 
and  with  the  proper  width  of  red  paper  and  bits 
of  string,  which  are  rolled  into  the  cylinder  at 
the  beginning,  each  child  can  easily  make  a  num- 
ber of  crackers,  and  finally  twist  them  together 
into  a  bunch  in  regulation  style.  All  kinds  of 
furniture,  musical  instruments,  tools,  kitchen  uten- 
sils, and  various  articles,  such  as  music  rolls,  field 
glasses,  step  ladders,  etc.,  can  be  made  with  a 
number  of  the  cylinders  of  various  shapes  and 
sizes  glued  together.  One  wide  strip  for  instance 
—  tightly  rolled  and  fastened  —  serves  for  a  roll- 
ing pin,  with  two  narrower,  smaller  rolls  glued 
on  for  handles ;  the  legs  of  a  table  may  each  be 
made  of  two  rolls,  fastened  one  on  top  of  the 
other  and  glued  to  a  square  of  pasteboard  for 
a  top ;  a  mirror  frame  may  be  fashioned  of  the 
rolls  and  silver  paper  serve  as  the  glass ;  and,  as 
an  exercise  in  group  work,  a  model  kindergarten 
may  be  made,  completely  furnished,  hung  with 


286  MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS 

pictures,  and  equipped  with  piano,  drum,  horn, 
triangle,  and  other  musical  instruments.  The 
children  will  learn,  with  practice,  to  roll  the  strip 
in  tapering  style,  as  for  the  old-fashioned  lamp- 
lighters, and  this  introduces  new  possibilities  of 
making  objects.  The  rolled  strip  work  is,  in 
truth,  one  of  the  most  suggestive  of  the  minor 
occupations,  and  the  forms  produced  share  with 
the  building  gifts,  with  peas  work,  and  clay  and 
cardboard  modeling,  the  great  advantage  of  stand- 
ing erect,  and  thus  lending  themselves  more  per- 
fectly to  purposes  of  play. 

CAKDBOARD   MODELING. 

Materials :  Card  and  pasteboard ;  scissors  and  knives ;  rulers ; 
glue,  or  paste ;  a  cloth  for  pressing,  and  a  hard  board. 

Cardboard  modeling  seems  to  be  a  union  of 
the  occupations  of  drawing,  cutting,  pasting,  and 
folding,  and  in  order  of  geometric  progression 
lies  between  peas  work  and  clay  modeling,  since 
the  representation  of  objects  by  means  of  con- 
nected surfaces  follows  skeleton  objects  (lines 
connected  by  points),  and  precedes  solids. 

The  occupation,  in  its  more  elaborate  form. 
Advanced  requiring  the  use  of  pasteboard,  knives, 
ModeUng.  mctal  rulcrs,  glue,  and  heavy  weights 
for  pressing,  is  better  adapted  to  the  connecting 
class  than  to  the  kindergarten,  and  can  easily  be 
made  of  sufficient  difficulty  to  suit  the  powers  of 
much  more  advanced  pupils.     It  may  be  made 


MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS  287 

most  useful  as  an  accompaniment  to  the  study  of 
elementary  crystallography,  the  following  solids 
being  easily  produced :  "the  five  regular  ones, 
tetrahedron,  hexahedron,  octahedron,  dodecahe- 
dron, icosahedron  ;  then  the  cone  prism,  paral- 
lelopipedon,  rhombohedron,  and  their  derivations, 
such  as  the  pupil  would  learn  to  discover  in  crys- 
tals. Froebel  considered  this  occupation  as  one 
of  the  best  for  older  boys,  and  not  only  had  these 
figures  made  of  cardboard,  but  of  wood,  clay,  and 
even  of  potatoes  and  turnips."  ^ 

Cardboard  work,  even  in  its  simpler  form  as 
used  in  the  kindergarten,  is  only  suited  cardboard 
to  the  older  children,  since  it  demands  ^e  Kinder- 
a  well-trained  eye  and  considerable  pre-  ^"'*®'^* 
vious  practice  in  drawing,  cutting,  folding,  and 
pasting.  If  pasteboard  is  employed,  knives  are 
necessary,  but  we  commonly  restrict  ourselves  in 
the  kindergarten  to  cardboard  and  simple  forms 
for  which  scissors  can  be  used.  The  first  efforts 
are  generally  little  baskets  cut  on  the  ground 
form  of  a  square,  an  oblong,  or  a  Maltese  cross, 
the  sides  being  gummed,  or  laced  together  with 
worsted  or  ribbon.  Then  follow  trays,  hand-bags, 
lamp-shades,  card-cases,  etc.,  then  variously  shaped 
boxes  with  covers  which  will  open  and  shut,  and 
then  the  simpler  solids.  The  ground  form  of  all 
these  objects  is  geometrical,  and  a  paper  pattern 
is  often  first  drawn,  folded   and  cut,  and  then 

1  Eleonore  Heerwart,  Froebd's  Course  of  Paper  Cutting,  page  7. 


288  MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS 

worked  out  in  cardboard.  There  are  certain  pre- 
scribed formulae  for  making  all  the  forms,  geo- 
metrical and  artistic,  which  have  been  mentioned, 
but  they  are  much  too  detailed  and  lengthy  to 
be  given  here.  A  little  pamphlet  by  Emily 
A.  Weaver,  called  "  Paper  and  Scissors  in  the 
Schoolroom,"  ^  gives  full  and  clear  instructions 
for  making  an  elaborate  series  of  forms,  and  Her- 
mann Goldammer,  in  his  Guide,  especially  recom- 
mends Seidel  and  Schmidt's  "  Arbeitsschule " 
and  Georgen's  "  Orbis  Laboris,"  as  furnishing  a 
variety  of  valuable  models. 

Many  of  the  little  objects  may  be  made  of  cel- 
UseofCei-  l^loid  or  ivorine  instead  of  cardboard, 
riiefaid°'  ^^  sides  laced  together  with  ribbons. 
Pasteboard,  ^j^^  edgcs  cut  out  iu  curvcs  or  the 
shapes  of  flower  petals,  and  so  make  very  pretty 
and  useful  gifts.  When  the  children  are  strong 
enough  and  experienced  enough  to  use  a  knife, 
the  trays  and  boxes  may  be  made  in  conveniently 
large  size  and  cut  from  heavy  pasteboard.  Then 
if  they  are  covered  with  colored  paper  and  se- 
curely fastened  with  glue  they  will  make  most 
useful  receptacles  for  the  various  kindergarten 
materials.  Such  a  set  of  trays  and  boxes  would 
be  an  admirable  exercise  in  group  work  for  the 
older  children. 

The  printed  sheets  made  in  Germany  for  card- 
board modeling  are  familiar  to  all  of  us  and  are 

1  Milton  Bradley  Co. 


MISCELLANEOUS  OCCUPATIONS  289 

to  be  had  in  every  large  toy  store.  These  are 
more  often  seen  in  the  nursery  than  in  prjnted 
the  kindergarten,  but  even  there  are  f re-  cSoI^d 
quently  used  as  models  for  dolls'  furni-  *^°<^«^«- 
ture,  the  children  cutting  the  various  pieces  from 
cardboard  and  decorating  them  like  the  patterns 
with  crayons  or  water  colors.  Each  child  of  the 
highest  class  is  often  given  a  heavy  pasteboard 
box  at  the  beginning  of  the  school  year,  which  he 
decorates  like  a  room  and  furnishes  with  his 
own  handiwork  in  cardboard  modeling  during  the 
term.  The  exercise  is  a  very  useful  one,  as  it 
gives  ample  room  for  the  development  of  indi- 
viduality, and  the  little  rooms  when  finished  are 
charming  gifts  to  children  who  have  been  less 
favored  by  kindergarten  advantages. 

There  are  also  sheets  printed  in  colors  which 
show  all  the  buildings  in  a  village  :  the  churches, 
schoolhouses,  shops,  cottages,  barns,  inns ;  and 
even  bridges,  canoes,  steamboats,  and  trains  of 
cars.  These  are  all  drawn  with  perfect  accuracy, 
and  can  be  cut  out  with  knives  and  scissors  and 
glued  together  so  as  to  stand  up  in  the  most  life- 
like way.  Such  a  village  is  very  useful  for  sand- 
table  work,  but  many  of  the  buildings  are  quite 
difficult  to  put  together,  and  require  help  from 
skillful  and  interested  grown  people. 


SAND  WORK 

Who  has  lived  so  many  years  that  he  cannot 
Instinct  of     brinsf  back  his  baby  days  for  a  moment 

Child  to  dig  °  i  i    t    , 

and  play  in     and  recall  the  dear  delig:ht  that  once 

Earth  and        ,         «  i      .  ,       . 

Sand.  he  felt  m  playing  with  earth  and  sand  ? 

Who  does  not  remember  the  cool  touch  of  the 
soft  earth,  the  pleasant  cohesion  of  its  particles, 
and  the  ease  with  which  it  could  be  smoothed  and 
patted  into  shape ;  and  who  can  ever  forget  the 
happy  days  by  the  sea-shore,  the  long  stretches  of 
hard,  wet  beach,  —  fit  drawing-board  for  giants, 
—  and  the  shining  white  heaps  above  the  tide- 
line  where  we  played  for  hours  together?  We 
can  hear  again  in  fancy  the  scratchy  whisper  of 
the  grains  as  they  poured  into  our  pails,  and  see 
the  caves  and  forts  and  towers  and  battlements 
that  we  builded  once  upon  a  time. 

The  instinct  which  leads  every  child  to  dig  or 
"  grub  "  in  the  earth  is  almost  equally  general, 
as  the  Baroness  von  Marenholtz  says,  with  the 
need  of  bodily  movement,  but  it  can  seldom  de- 
velop itseK  unhindered,  particularly  in  the  edu- 
cated classes  of  society,  and  is  often  repressed 
as  soon  as  it  is  manifested.  "Thou  shalt  not 
make  thyself  dirty,"  is  the  first  commandment  of 


SAND   WORK  291 

the  maternal  catechism,  says  the  Baroness,  and 
seldom  do  town-children  find  an  opportunity  to 
indulge  the  tendency  which  attracts  them  to  a 
dust-heap  for  want  of  better  material.  We  may 
be  weU  assured,  however,  that  the  suppression  of 
any  legitimate  natural  instinct  leads  to  deviations 
from  the  normal  development  of  our  nature,  and 
robs  us  of  the  best  and  most  appropriate  means 
for  the  first  education  of  the  heart,  of  a  means 
which  no  other  can  replace. 

Like  Antaeus  of  old,  the  children  renew  their 
strength  at  the  touch  of  Mother  Earth,  g^^^  ^^^^ 
and  yet  we  arbitrarily  hold  them  back  provided^for 
from  this  store-house  of  power.  If  the  «ii  Children. 
authorities  should  order  a  sand  heap  put  in  every 
back  yard  of  our  cities,  being  especially  careful 
not  to  neglect  the  tiny  inclosures  around  which 
the  very  poor  hive  together,  there  would  be  less 
vagabondage  and  less  youthful  ruffianism.  The 
child  must  needs  be  busy,  and  lacking  legitimate 
means  of  occupation  he  will  seek  out  those  that 
are  unlawful. 

In  Germany  they  seem  to  understand  the  needs 
of  children  better  than  we  have  ever  taken  time 
to  do  in  America,  and  one  of  the  beautiful  acts  of 
the  Empress  Frederick,  in  accordance  with  a  sug- 
gestion made  to  her  by  Frau  Schrader,  was  to 
induce  the  Emperor  to  set  apart  certain  portions 
of  all  public  parks  for  play-grounds,  with  sand 
hills  upon  them,  for  the  little  children.     Any  one 


292  SAND   WOBK 

who  has  frequented  the  parks  of  the  larger  Ger- 
man cities  knows  what  an  attractive  picture  the 
children  make  in  their  busy,  happy  play  of  dig- 
ging and  packing  and  building  in  the  easily 
moulded  soil.  And  any  one  who  has  studied  psy- 
chology watches  with  keen  delight  the  clear,  rapid 
expression  of  these  children's  crude  impressions 
of  the  world  about  them. 

The  Pestalozzi-Froebel  Haus  in  Berlin,  of  which 
Frau  Schrader  is  the  leading  spirit,  is  provided 
with  a  most  beautiful  sand  garden  shaded  by 
trees,  over  which  all  visiting  kindergartners  rhap- 
sodize. This  is  no  petty  box  of  sand  such  as  we 
in  America  think  ourselves  fortunate  in  possess- 
ing, but  a  "  truly  "  garden,  as  the  children  say, 
where  there  are  glorious  heaps  of  sand  in  which 
they  can  dig  with  their  little  shovels,  and  which 
they  can  carry  about  and  load  and  unload  in  their 
toy  carts.  There  is  no  reason  why  all  our  chil- 
dren in  this  country,  save  those  prisoners  of  lux- 
ury who  are  pent  in  hotels  and  boarding-houses, 
should  not  have  a  sand  pile  for  outdoor  amuse- 
ment. A  load  of  sand  is  not  a  matter  of  much 
expense,  nor  is  a  low  board  fence  to  surround  it 
and  prevent  scattering,  when  once  it  is  landed  in 
our  yards.  One  load  will  last  several  years  where 
only  a  few  children  use  it,  and  if  no  convenient 
tree  grows  near  to  shade  the  spot,  a  light  awning 
would  not  be  impossible  of  achievement.  Into 
this  garden  of  Eden  we  can  usher  the  little  ones, 


SAND    WORK  293 

and,  provided  with  iron  spoons,  toy  shovels,  one 
or  two  old  pails  and  pans  and  some  muffin  rings 
and  scallop-tins  for  cake-baking,  they  will  amuse 
themselves  quietly  and  happily  for  hours.  To 
be  sure,  if  they  are  naughty,  they  will  throw  the 
sand  in  each  other's  eyes  and  all  about  the  yard ; 
but  such  children  cannot  be  trusted  to  be  less 
than  troublesome  under  any  conditions,  and  they 
will  probably  be  better  contented  and  less  quar- 
relsome in  the  sand  pile  than  anywhere  else. 

"  The  little  child,"  as  Froebel  noted,  "  employs 
itself  for  a  long  time  merely  by  pouring  water  or 
sand  from  one  vessel  into  another  alternately,"  ^ 
and  "  for  building  and  forming  with  sand  and 
earth,  which  precedes  clay  work,  opportunities 
should  be  afforded  even  to  the  child  of  one  year." 
Even  the  baby  then  may  safely  be  set  in  the 
sand  pile,  and  can  play  with  the  rest  at  digging, 
and  moulding  and  burrowing,  and  pouring  the 
grains  in  and  out  of  the  tin  vessels. 

The  sand  table,  sand  box,  or  sand  garden,  as  it 
is  variously  called,  seems  to  have  been  sand  in  the 
first  suggested  to  Froebel  by  Hermann  teu. 
von  Arnswald,  a  former  pupil  at  Keilhau,  and  a 
devoted  friend  and  admirer  of  the  great  educator. 
He  writes  Froebel  from  Eisenach,  May  13,  1847 : 

"  Dear,  Fatherly  Friend  :  Yesterday  I  was 
engaged  in  studying  your  Sunday  paper  when  an 

^  Pedagogics,  page  146. 


294  SAND   WORE 

idea  struck  me  which  I  feel  prompted  to  com- 
municate to  you.  I  thought,  might  not  a  plane 
of  sand  be  made  a  useful  and  entertaining  game  ? 
By  a  plane  of  sand  I  mean  a  low,  shallow  box  of 
wood  filled  with  pure  sand.  It  would  be  a  kin- 
dergarten in  miniature.  The  children  might  play 
in  it  with  their  cubes  and  building  blocks.  I 
think  it  would  give  the  child  particular  pleasure 
to  have  the  forms  and  figures  and  sticks  laid  out 
in  the  sand  before  his  eyes.  Sand  is  a  material 
adaptable  to  any  use.  A  few  drops  of  water 
mixed  with  it  would  enable  the  child  to  form 
mountains  and  valleys  in  it,  and  so  on."  ^ 

True  to  Emerson's  saying  that  it  is  only  an 
inventor  who  knows  how  to  borrow,  Froebel 
seized  upon  this  suggestion  of  Colonel  von  Arns- 
wald's,  and  the  sand  table  has  ever  since  been  iix 
use  in  the  kindergarten. 

It  is,  as  commonly  seen,  a  water-tight  box  about 
five  by  three  feet,  and  at  least  a  foot  deep,  is  set 
on  short  stout  legs  with  rollers  and  filled  with 
sand  to  within  two  inches  of  the  top.  The  box 
is  sometimes  lined  with  zinc,  as  it  is  often  neces- 
sary to  pour  enough  water  into  the  sand  to  repre- 
sent a  lake,  or  the  boundless  ocean,  but  it  can  be 
so  strongly  made  as  to  need  no  lining,  or  may 
have  a  double  bottom.  It  may  be  five  feet  square 
instead  of  oblong,  or  it  may  be  somewhat  smaller 

^  FroeheVs  Letters^  edited  by  A.  H.  Heinemann,  page  61. 


SAND   WOBK  295 

than  the  size  mentioned,  but  it  must  be  large 
enough  for  a  dozen  children  to  gather  around,  as 
it  is  used  only  for  group  work,  and  must  be  low 
enough  to  be  convenient  for  little  people.  The 
sand  is  always  kept  quite  damp,  as  it  lends  itself 
to  moulding  much  more  readily  in  this  condition, 
and  the  particles  are  thus  prevented  from  rising 
into  the  air  in  the  form  of  dust. 

The  kindergarten,  with  its  explanation  of  the 
universal  instincts  of  childhood,  shows  First  piays 

and  Exer- 

us  the  source  of  the  pleasure  which  all  cises. 
children  take  in  playing  with  sand,  and  gives  ade- 
quate opportunity  to  satisfy  the  universal  desire 
in  such  a  fashion  that  it  may  aid  in  real  self- 
development.  All  the  exercises  at  the  sand  table 
are  cooperative,  and  so  lead  the  children  to  feel 
more  sensibly  the  pressure  of  those  "  bonds  that 
unite  us  one  and  all,  whether  it  be  by  the  soft 
binding  of  love,  or  the  iron  chain  of  necessity." 
And  herein  lies  the  greatest  value  of  the  work,  — 
that  it  requires  cooperation  ;  for  as  Froebel  says, 
"  the  feeling  of  community  is  commonly  not  only 
not  early  awakened,  or  later  nourished  in  the 
child,  but  on  the  contrary  is  early  disturbed  and 
even  annihilated."  ^ 

In  the  first  exercises  with  the  sand  the  children 
are  allowed  to  pour  it  through  their  fingers  as 
much  as  they  like,  to  bury  their  hands  deep  in  the 
shifting  grains  till  not  even  a  dimpled  wrist  is 

^  Education  of  Man,  page  74  (Jarvis  translation). 


296  SAND   WOBK 

visible,  and  then  suddenly  withdraw  them,  mak- 
ing a  sort  of  hide-and-seek  play,  which  they 
especially  enjoy,  and  which  contains  the  element 
of  alienation  and  return  which  Froebel  dwells 
upon  so  thoughtfully  in  the  "  Mother  Play." 
They  like,  too,  when  the  sand  is  quite  smooth, 
to  print  their  open  hands  and  finger  tips  and 
knuckles  upon  it,  rejoicing  in  the  ready  response 
of  the  material  to  the  lightest  touch.  Of  course 
they  are  all  this  time  experimenting  upon  heap- 
ing the  sand  into  mountains,  which  they  level  as 
speedily,  or  raking  it  with  Nature's  five-toothed 
rake  and  smoothing  it  with  the  open  palm,  but 
now  another  simple  exercise  will  be  found  to  give 
the  greatest  joy.  They  may  each  be  provided  with 
a  tray  and  a  number  of  little  forms,  —  squares, 
oblongs,  circles,  hearts,  which  are  made  in  great 
variety  for  the  purpose.  They  place  these  forms, 
which  are  merely  rims  like  muffin-rings,  on  their 
trays,  fill  them  with  damp  sand,  then  carefully 
withdraw  them,  and  lo  !  what  an  array  of  cakes 
for  a  party  !  The  pleasure  which  the  play  gives 
to  babies  need  not  be  dilated  upon,  but  there  is 
an  element  of  useful  information  in  it  also,  in  the 
knowledge  it  gives  of  differing  forms,  as  well  as 
the  practice  in  dexterity  required  to  fill  them 
without  scattering  the  sand,  to  press  it  down 
carefully  and  withdraw  the  little  pans  without 
injuring  the  baker's  delicate  handiwork. 

Another  simple  exercise  is  garden-making,  for 


SAND   WOBK  297 

which  the  children  are  provided  with  toy  rakes, 
hoes,  and  spades,  which  can  be  bought  anywhere 
for  a  cent  apiece,  and,  as  they  are  made  of  iron, 
are  indestructible.  Of  course  the  ground  is  prop- 
erly prepared  by  the  laborers,  and  then  if  a  flower 
garden  is  to  be  planted,  consultations  are  held 
in  regard  to  the  shape,  size,  and  position  of  the 
various  beds  which  are  laid  out,  fenced  with  slats, 
and  then  planted  with  flowers  that  possess  the 
magical  property  of  blooming  as  soon  as  set  out. 
A  real  garden,  however,  may  be  made  in  the 
box,  if  desirable;  for  peas,  canary-seed,  etc.,  will 
sprout  and  grow  very  well  for  a  time  in  the  wet 
sand. 

Again,  the  children  may  mould  spheres  from 
the  yielding  material,  calling  them  snowballs, 
cannon  balls,  apples,  oranges,  or  anything  they 
consider  appropriate,  and  when  they  are  using  the 
second  gift,  a  delightful  exercise  is  to  make  group- 
work  inventions  by  pressing  the  spheres,  cubes, 
and  cylinder  into  the  smooth  surface. 

"  The  hands  of  children  commence  their  first 
rouffh  trials  at  building,"  says  the  Bar- 

°  o'  ./  ^  Later  Plays. 

oness  von  Marenholtz  -  Bulow,  "  whilst 
digging  in  earth  and  sand.  The  scooping  of  cav- 
erns, the  building  of  houses  and  bridges,  form- 
ing and  fashioning  of  all  kinds  (from  the  dirt- 
pies  made  with  mother's  thimble  to  the  proud 
edifices  made  with  the  contents  of  the  brick-box, 
or  with  a  pack  of  cards),  and  lastly  drawing  and 


298  SAND   WORK 

modeling,  —  all  spring  from  the  instinct  of  con- 
struction, the  true  instinct  of  work." 

Implanted  in  each  child  of  the  human  race 
is  this  instinct,  and  the  corresponding  desire  to 
make  use  of  the  materials  which  nature  provides 
to  satisfy  the  craving.  The  yielding  sand  affords 
the  most  suitable  material  which  can  be  found  for 
the  purpose,  far  better  than  the  clay  at  first,  as 
it  offers  practically  no  resistance  to  hand  and 
will.  There  is  nothing  in  the  kindergarten  which 
is  capable  of  such  varied,  helpful,  and  beautiful 
uses  as  is  the  sand  table,  and  it  alone,  were  aU 
our  other  helps  to  child  training  removed,  would 
support  the  claims  of  the  system  to  be  considered 
as  a  great  educational  agency.  All  the  gifts  and 
many  of  the  occupations  may  be  used  in  it,  and 
in  every  exercise  where  individual  powers  have 
been  strengthened,  these  may  subsequently  be  de- 
voted to  the  common  welfare  by  a  cooperative 
play  at  the  table. 

The  first -gift  balls  and  beads  may  be  laid  as 
garlands  of  flowers  in  the  sand;  the  second-gift 
forms  and  beads  be  used  for  impressing  inven- 
tions and  for  symbolic  plays ;  the  gifts  from  third 
to  sixth  give  wonderful  opportunities  for  building 
of  every  kind  and  for  the  illustration  of  stories 
and  games,  while  even  the  sticks  and  rings  and 
seeds,  as  Colonel  von  Arnswald  suggested,  may 
be  laid  into  charming  inventions  on  the  smooth 
plane  of  sand.     Many  things  which  the  child  has 


SAND   WORK  299 

made  in  slat  interlacing,  weaving,  cutting,  fold- 
ing, peas  work,  modeling  with  clay  and  cardboard, 
bead  stringing,  and  rolled  strip  work  may  be  ap- 
propriately used  in  the  sand  table,  and  thus  be 
doubly  blessed  to  the  child  in  that  they  have 
been  a  pleasure  to  himself  in  making,  and  yet  may 
be  used  for  the  service  of  others.  Miss  Emma 
Marwedel  thus  speaks  of  sand  work :  "  Every- 
thing can  be  made  visible  on  it,  —  the  longest  as 
well  as  the  shortest  paths,  the  high  hill  and  the 
deep  dale,  all  softly  curved,  all  sharp  mathemati- 
cal lines,  come  into  view  in  gracefully  laid-out 
gardens.  The  knowledge  of  home,  geographical 
sketches  (even  as  far  as  the  snow  line  and  the 
breaking  of  the  wind  by  moimtain  chains),  cli- 
matic scenes,  e.  ^.,  views  of  Greenland  and  South 
America,  windings  of  rivers,  —  all  these  things 
and  many  others  can  be  executed  by  means  of  the 
various  materials  at  hand  in  the  kindergarten. 
Scissors,  hammer,  knife,  modeling,  cardboard, 
paper  cutting,  —  all  that  incites  the  child's  crea- 
tive ideas  comes  into  application."  ^ 

Some  of  the  above  suggestions  are  better  suited, 
perhaps,  to  the  primary  school  than  to  the  kin- 
dergarten, but  even  here  we  can  make  a  beginning 
with  geography  by  laying  out  in  the  sand  first 
the  kindergarten  and  its  immediate  surroundings, 
then  the  neighborhood,  and  lastly  a  simple  out- 
line of  the  city  with  its  principal  streets,  and  a 
1  Childhood's  Poetry  and  Studies,  page  24. 


300  SAND   WORK 

few  of  its  public  buildings.  If  there  are  moun- 
tains, rivers,  and  lakes  in  the  vicinity,  these  may 
be  added,  and  as  the  exercise  would  occupy  a 
great  many  work  periods,  it  may  be  left  upon  the 
table,  and  added  to  from  time  to  time.  A  series 
of  group-work  plays  for  the  entire  term  might 
be  made  by  illustrating  the  homes  of  the  "  Seven 
Little  Sisters,"  and  prove  as  useful  in  geograr 
phy  teaching  as  in  showing  the  brotherhood  of 
man. 

And  how  may  the  sand  work  aid  us  in  the 
study  of  history?  Let  us  consider  one  of  the 
incidents  of  the  Revolution,  for  instance,  and  see 
what  impression  we  may  make  on  the  child's  mind 
by  illustrating  the  "  Midnight  Ride  of  Paul  Re- 
vere." We  suppose,  of  course,  that  the  exercise 
is  to  be  carried  out  by  the  older  children,  who 
have  often  heard  the  poem  recited  and  remember 
its  main  features.  The  city  of  Boston  is  laid  out 
on  one  side  of  the  table,  the  North  Church  con- 
spicuously placed  among  the  buildings,  and  hav- 
ing a  "  practicable  "  belfry. 

While  one  group  of  the  children  is  making  the 
city,  two  or  three  more  are  representing  the  bay 
with  water,  or  glass,  and  placing  a  toy  ship  in  it 
to  stand  for  the  "  Somerset,"  swinging  wide  at 
her  moorings. 

Directly  across  the  bay  another  group  builds 
up  the  village  of  Charlestown,  from  which  Paul 
Revere  rode  forth, 


SAND   WORK  301 

*'  with  his  cry  of  alarm, 
To  every  MidcQesex  village  and  farm." 

A  few  more  children  construct  the  historic 
bridge  across  the  river  leading  to  Concord,  this 
being  a  small  village,  with  flocks  of  sheep  asleep 
in  its  fields,  and  having  for  its  main  building  the 
storehouse  of  clothing,  food,  and  ammimition  of 
the  Americans. 

The  remainder  of  the  class  lay  out  the  villages 
of  Medford  and  Lexington,  not  forgetting  a  cock 
and  a  dog  for  the  former  hamlet,  a  meeting-house 
with  a  gilded  weather-vane  for  the  latter,  and 
clock-towers  for  all  three  towns.  The  teacher 
must,  of  course,  from  her  knowledge  of  the  dis- 
tance of  all  these  places  from  each  other  and  from 
Boston,  and  their  relative  direction,  give  a  good 
deal  of  advice  as  to  laying  out  the  sand  table  ad- 
vantageously, and  she  will  probably  also  need  to 
be  consulted  as  to  the  shape  of  the  bay  and  the 
windings  of  the  river,  "  a  line  of  black,  that  bends 
and  floats." 

A  number  of  exercises  would  be  well  spent  in 
arranging  Boston  and  the  neighboriug  villages 
in  the  sand  with  their  various  buildings ;  in  con- 
structing the  bridge  and  making  two  lanterns  for 
the  North  Church  tower,  a  row  boat  and  oars  for 
Paul  Eevere,  clocks  for  the  three  villages,  a 
weathercock  for  Lexington  meeting-house,  and 
in  gathering  together  from  the  group-work  stores 
a  horse  and  rider,  a  cock,  a  dog,  a  flock  of  sheep, 


302  SAND   WOBK 

and  some  trees.  Finally  when  all  these  prepara- 
tions are  completed,  and  all  the  objects  set  in 
place,  the  poem  is  recited,  and  at  the  right  mo- 
ment Paul  is  rowed  across  the  bay  and  stands 
impatient  by  his  horse  until  the  lanterns  are  hung 
in  the  tower.  Then  eager  hands  mount  him  and 
hurry  him  from  village  to  village  in  time  with 
the  recitation,  till  at  two  by  the  village  clock 
he  comes  to  the  bridge  in  Concord  town.  .  .  . 
Such  is  the  exercise,  and  clear  enough  its  value 
in  teaching  literature,  history,  and  patriotism. 
What  child  could  leave  that  heap  of  sand  with- 
out a  word  in  his  heart  that  shall  ring  forever- 
more,  and  an  echo  in  his  memory 

"  Of  the  hurrying  hoof-beats  of  that  steed 
And  the  midnight  message  of  Paul  Revere  "  ? 

There  are  many  stories,  not  necessarily  histori- 
cal, which  the  children  enjoy  illustrating  in  the 
sand.  Very  well  do  we  remember  an  occasion 
when  one  of  the  authors  told  the  fairy  story  of 
the  Princess  and  the  golden  ball,  at  the  sand 
table.  Across  years  of  time  comes  the  memory 
of  the  eagerness  with  which  the  children  con- 
structed the  king's  palace,  which  was  quite  a 
wonderful  sixth-gift  creation,  how  they  designed 
gardens,  planted  them  with  flowers  and  trees,  laid 
the  walks  with  pebbles,  and  finally  set  in  the 
midst  a  silver  lake  represented  by  a  broken  look- 
ing-glass. Then  when  the  golden  ball  (a  second- 
gift  bead)  lay  on  the  surface  of  the  water  and  the 


SAND    WORK  303 

story  told  of  the  enchanted  frog's  appearance, 
and  his  offer  to  return  it  on  certain  conditions,  — 
all  was  so  real  that  the  story  teller  herself  half 
expected  to  see  him  emerging  from  the  lake,  and 
to  hear  his  harsh  croak. 

In  all  these  exercises  the  teacher  must  endeavor 
simply  to  be  one  of  the  children  and  not  force  her 
ideas  upon  the  community.  We  are  constantly, 
as  Dr.  C.  C.  Van  Liew  says,  "  forcing  the  child's 
representations  into  channels  not  his  own,  that 
do  not  express  his  own  conceptions,  and  that 
even  defraud  him  of  his  rights  to  individuality 
in  error."  Spontaneity  of  activity,  which  sand 
moulding  is  especially  fitted  to  foster,  will  be 
utterly  crushed  if  the  kindergartner  leads  instead 
of  follows,  and  it  is  her  highest  duty  in  these 
group-work  exercises  to  keep  herself  in  the  back- 
ground.^ 

After  a  season  or  two's  work  with  the  sand 
table,  a  number  of  objects  are  necessa-  cabinets  for 
rily  collected,  which  have  been  bought,  objects, 
brought  from  home,  or  made  by  the  children  and 
kindergartner  to  embellish  the  work  and  make  it 
more  realistic.     These  may  be  wooden,  china,  and 

^  "  It  is  very  important  not  to  force  on  the  child,  in  the  sym- 
bolic stage  of  his  ciilture,  say  from  four  to  six  years  of  age,  the 
ideas  of  others  in  the  details  of  his  work,  for  that  will  produce 
arrested  development,  and  he  will  not  have  the  vivid  sense  of 
personality  that  he  ought  to  have.  The  kindei^arten  method 
encourages  spontaneity,  and  thus  protects  the  fountains  of  his 
originality."     (W.  T.  Harris.) 


304  SAND   WORK 

tin  animals  of  all  sorts  ;  Swiss  villages ;  toy  trees ; 
houses,  churches,  boats,  and  bridges  in  card- 
board modeling ;  houses,  implements,  and  fur- 
niture in  peas  work ;  tin  vehicles,  garden  benches, 
railroad  trains,  steamers,  garden  tools,  Noah's 
ark  figures,  sticks  and  pebbles  for  fences  and 
walks,  —  a  motley  collection  which  requires  much 
space  to  keep  sorted  and  in  order,  and  which  the 
kindergarten  closet,  though  it  held  as  much  as 
Pandora's  box,  would  never  find  room  for.  Miss 
Marwedel  suggested  that  a  cheap  wooden  cabinet 
with  drawers  should  be  provided  and  used  for 
this  purpose  alone,  and  that  certain  children 
should  be  deputed  to  keep  the  various  objects  in 
order,  taking  turns  with  the  duty  week  by  week. 
One  of  these  children  might  be  called  the  gar- 
dener, one  the  shepherd,  one  the  architect,  etc., 
and  it  would  be  the  duty  of  each  one  to  keep 
his  material  in  order  and  know  where  it  was  to 
be  found.  The  plan  is  perfectly  practicable,  and 
will  give  a  glimpse  of  great  joy  to  those  who 
have  hunted  a  half  hour  for  a  certain  flock  of 
cotton-wool  sheep,  known  to  be  in  existence,  and 
yet  nowhere  to  be  found. 

There  is  hardly  a  kindergarten  exercise  sug- 
use  of  Sand  g^stcd  in  this  chaptcr,  save  perhaps  the 
Sary^^""  fi^st  plays  for  babies,  which  would  not 
School.  i^g  equally  as  practical  and  useful  in  the 
school,  and  could  be  carried  out  much  more  fully 
there,  on  account  of  the  greater  age  and  ability 


SAND   WORK  305 

of  the  children.  One  obstacle  to  the  introduction 
of  the  sand  table  into  the  crowded  primary  school- 
room would  be,  of  course,  its  size  and  the  amount 
of  space  it  occupies.  Perhaps,  however,  it  might 
be  fastened  to  the  wall  with  hinges,  and  opened 
and  filled  only  when  in  use,  which  would  dispose, 
in  part,  at  least,  of  the  objection.  An  enthusi- 
astic teacher  thus  speaks  of  its  use  in  the  school- 
room :  "  With  the  sand  box,"  she  says,  "  the 
children  gain  permanent  and  correct  ideas  of  the 
world  in  general,  of  the  construction  of  houses 
and  bridges,  of  habits  of  animals  and  plants.  The 
study  of  geography  is,  through  its  possibilities, 
made  a  most  fascinating  pastime ;  moufi tains, 
hills,  volcanoes,  rivers,  ponds,  maps  of  states, 
counties,  cities  are  formations  in  the  sand,  over 
the  construction  of  which,  little  heads  bend  in 
happy  thought  and  fingers  work  with  joyous 
zeal. 

"  No  child  thus  taught  is  ever  heard  to  say,  '  I 
hate  geography,'  for  to  his  mind  it  has  no  associa- 
tions with  dull,  weary  memorization  of  the  printed 
page,  but  is  suggestive,  instead,  of  scenes  full  of 
reality  to  the  imagination,  and  of  pictures  delight- 
ful to  the  eye.  Even  the  smallest  children  get 
intelligent  ideas  of  the  planet  on  which  they  live, 
and  know  more  than  many  a  grown  person  of 
the  topography  of  the  city  which  is  their  home. 
They  map  it  out  as  a  whole  in  the  sand,  and 
locate  carefully  the  street  and  block  in  which  they 


306  SAND   WOBK 

live,  not  forgetting  the  trees  in  the  home  neigh- 
borhood, nor  even  the  lamp-post  and  letter-box. 
Thus  are  habits  of  observation  stimulated,  and 
the  walks  to  and  from  school  made  something 
more  than  idle  wanderings." 

Many  teachers  already  use  the  sand  for  in- 
struction in  geography,  and  Alexander  E.  Frye's 
"Child  and  Nature,  or  Geography  Teaching  with 
Sand  Modeling,"  will  be  found  most  helpful  for 
this  purpose.^  The  use  of  sand  in  the  beginnings 
of  history  has  already  been  hinted  at,  and  could 
be  developed  as  fully  as  the  spirit  and  intelligence 
of  teacher  and  children  would  allow.  Imagine, 
for  instance,  how  well  Jane  Andrews's  story  of 
"Ten  Boys  on  the  Road  from  Long  Ago  to 
Now,"  could  be  worked  out,  and  how  the  inge- 
nuity and  power  of  planning  of  all  the  children 
might  be  devoted  to  picturing  the  homes,  the  life 
and  surroundings  of  Kablu,  the  Aryan ;  Darius, 
the  Persian ;  Cleon,  the  Greek ;  Horatius,  the 
Koman  boy,  and  all  the  other  lads  from  Long 
Ago  to  Now. 

A  part  of  the  sand  table,  too,  might  be  used 
for  botanical  observations,  and  this  has  been  done 
quite  successfully.  While  in  one  portion,  peas, 
beans,  flax,  and  some  grasses  were  sown,  and  the 
whole  process  of  germination  and  care  experi- 
enced, the  other  part  was  used  for  any  cobpera- 

1  Another  useful  book  of  this  nature  is  Map  Modeling  in 
Geography  and  History,  by  Albert  E.  Maltby. 


SAND   WOBK  307 

tive  labor.  Local  scenes,  imitation  of  a  park, 
geographical  scenes  of  Greenland,  of  the  Eskimo 
huts  and  the  snow,  scenes  of  South  America, 
illustrations  of  the  life  of  Robinson  Crusoe,  the 
animals  being  represented  in  great  numbers,  at- 
tended by  their  special  herder,  —  all  these  were 
arranged  according  to  the  capacity  of  the  chil- 
dren, who  did  all  the  labor  in  common.^ 

In  another  school,  after  the  story  of  "  Little 
George  Washington  "  ^  had  been  told,  the  children 
prepared  the  sand  table,  and  when  the  older  ones 
had  traced  the  letters  of  his  name  and  the  date 
of  his  birth  deep  in  the  soft  sand,  the  lesser  ones 
filled  them  with  seeds  and  covered  them  carefully. 
Then  in  a  little  time  the  whole  appeared  in  fresh 
green  letters,  and  so  recalled  a  tale  of  the  child- 
hood of  Washington,  and  proved  a  useful  foot- 
note to  history. 

Again,  the  sand  may  be  used  for  learning  the 
principles  of  architecture,  for  cellars  may  be  dug, 
foundations  laid,  and  walls  built  as  in  real  life. 
A  spirit-level  would  be  of  great  service  here,  for 
in  erecting  a  large  building,  the  whole  structure 
is  likely  to  fall  to  the  ground  if  the  foundation 
is  not  properly  laid,  and  of  this  it  is  difficult  to 
judge  with  the  eye  alone. 

Let  us  remember  in  the   school,  however,  as 

1  Emma  Marwedel,  Hints  to  Teachers,  page  12. 

2  Kate  D.  Wiggin  and  Nora  A.  Smith,  The  Story-Hour,  page 
115. 


308  SAND   WORK 

much  as  in  the  kindergarten,  that  the  children, 
not  the  teachers,  are  to  be  the  leaders  in  the 
work,  and  how  far  they  may  be  trusted  to  be  so 
is  shown  in  Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall's  wonderful 
"  Story  of  a  Sand  Pile."  1 

Some  of  the  processes,  institutions,  and  meth- 
ods of  administration  and  organization  carried  out 
in  that  load  of  sand  could  only  be  attained  by 
a  gradual  growth  in  ability,  and  would  perhaps 
require  more  time  and  concentration  than  could 
well  be  given  during  school  hours,  but  in  all  sand 
plays,  to  quote  Dr.  Hall,  "  the  power  of  motive 
arising  from  a  large  surface  of  interest  can  be 
turned  on  to  the  smallest  part."  Not  only  has 
the  work  this  value,  but  it  is  an  unexcelled 
teacher  of  social  morality  and  of  self-control,  and 
lastly,  it  develops  the  creative  instincts,  which  if 
suppressed,  entail  a  loss  of  power  upon  the  whole 
being  of  the  child. 

1  Scribner^s  Monthly,  June,  1888. 


GENERAL   REMARKS   ON   THE   OCCUPA- 
TIONS 

These  occupations  of  the  kindergarten,  so  old, 
—  as  old  as  the  playing  child,  and  yet  as  new 
as  the  last-born  baby  among  us, — seem  indeed  to 
prove  themselves  worthy  of  Froebel's  saying  that 
they  contain  the  imiversal  elements  of  proper 
work  for  childhood. 

Yet  as  we  have  tried  to  show  in  the  preceding 
chapters,  they  must  be  applied  according  to  Froe- 
belian  principles,  or  they  lose  all  their  power  for 
good  and  even  become  harmful. 

One  of  our  commonest  kindergarten  sayings  is 
that   self-activity  is  the  watchword  of 

_  ,  .  ,  .      .  .  Self-Activity. 

the  new  education,  but  it  is  question- 
able whether  we  always  thoroughly  understand 
what  we  mean  when  we  use  the  phrase.  SeM- 
activity  in  the  child  means  more  than  his  being 
busy,  more  than  his  voluntary  performance  of 
work,  more  than  his  overcoming  of  difficulties  by 
personal  effort,  more  than  his  accomplishing  any 
result  unassisted,  and  by  force  of  his  own  powers  ; 
"  it  implies,"  as  Miss  Peabody  said,  "  that,  at  all 
times,  Ms  whole  self  shall  he  active^  for  no  activ- 
ity accomplishes  all  the   good   it  can,  unless  it 


310  GENERAL  REMARKS 

enlists  his  entire  self  in  all  the  phases  of  being. 
The  law  of  seK-activity  is  not  more  opposed  to 
the  leading-string  and  cramming  practices,  than 
it  is  to  one-sidedness  in  the  work  of  education ; 
it  demands  not  activity  alone,  but  all-sided  activ- 
ity of  the  whole  being,  the  whole  self."^ 

If  we  judge  our  ministrations  to  the  child's 
self-activity  by  the  above  definition,  how  far  do 
we  come  short  of  the  standard  ? 

"  The  whole  body  of  investigations  upon  child- 
hood," says  Dr.  C.  C.  Van  Liew,  "  points  to  the 
fact  that  the  most  vivid  perceptions  and  memories 
are  associated  with  self-activities,  —  a  fact  which 
demands  not  only  that  education  proceed  early 
along  the  lines  of  motor  activity,  as  in  the  kinder- 
garten, but  that  the  entire  intellectual  develop- 
ment aim  to  stimulate  the  child's  self -activity."  ^ 

Let  us  ask  ourselves  specifically  here,  have  we 
or  have  we  not  furnished  the  right  conditions  for 
such  development  ? 

The  worth  of  knowledge  obtained  by  individual 
Self-Activity  effort  cauuot,  of  course,  be  too  highly 
estimated  ;  the  mental  and  spiritual  dis- 
cipline gained  by  persistently  struggling  with  dif- 
ficulties and  bravely  overcoming  them,  is  one  of 
the  most  valuable  of  life  possessions,  but  this 
effort  and  this  personal  struggle  on  the  part  of 

1  Kindergarten  Messenger,  April,  1879. 

2  Transactions  of  the  Illinois  Society  for  Child  Study,  VoL  L 
No.  1. 


ON  THE  OCCUPATIONS  311 

the  child  need  not  and  should  not  be  carried 
on  without  the  participation  of  the  teacher,  —  in 
other  words  the  self-activity  of  the  learner  should 
not  exclude  a  similar  activity  on  the  part  of  the 
leader.  It  is  not  his  office  to  give  the  child  a 
problem  to  work  out,  and  then  leave  him  to 
grapple  with  it  alone,  for  the  whole  reason  of  the 
teacher's  being  is  that  he  shall  supply  the  expe- 
rience the  child  lacks,^  that  he  shall  "  show,  when 
showing  enables  the  child  to  do,  and  must  even 
do,  when  his  doing  enables  the  child  to  appreciate 
the  bearing  or  value  of  his  own  activity." 

Of  course  it  is  a  delicate  matter  to  give  the 
pupil  just  aid  enough,  and  not  too  much,  to  hold 
out  a  helping  hand  when  the  road  is  very  rough 
for  small  feet,  and  yet  to  withdraw  the  hand  and 
encourage  walking  alone  as  the  obstacles  grow 
less.  It  is  a  delicate  matter  indeed,  and  de- 
mands good  judgment,  experience,  and  sympa- 
thetic knowledge  of  all  children,  as  well  as  of 
the  particular  child. 

Have  we  this  judgment  and  experience,  and  are 
we  gaining  this  knowledge  ? 

Nothing  is  more  noticeable  in  visiting  various 
kindergartens  than  the  marked  difference  in  the 
way  the  materials  are  treated  by  the  children. 
This  difference,  like  that  exquisite  and  delicate 

1  "  Experience  without  instruction  is  wastef ully  extravagant ; 
instruction  unattended  by  experience  is  valueless.  The  former 
exhausts,  the  latter  starves  life."     (W.  N.  Hailmann.) 


312  GENERAL  REMABES 

thing,  the  kindergarten  "  atmosphere,"  is,  and 
Handling  must  be,  a  direct  emanation  from  the 
Sn^Mate-'^"  mental  attitude  of  the  kindergartner. 
rials.  jj-^g^  ^^  ^^^  suppose,  who  sees  a  com- 

pany of  children  hastily  stuffing  their  weaving 
mats  into  the  envelopes  regardless  of  creases  and 
crumples,  folding  their  papers  without  thought 
of  correct  diameters,  dropping  their  clay  on  the 
floor,  smudging  and  smearing  their  drawings,  — 
let  no  one  suppose  that  those  children  are  a  horde 
of  wild  and  lawless  Arabs. 

There  may  be,  there  certainly  is,  some  one  in 
the  room  who  deserves  to  be  called  by  that  name, 
but  just  as  certainly  she  is  not  among  the  children. 
No,  for  subjected  to  another  influence  you  shall 
see  the  same  careless,  heedless  company  become 
careful  and  orderly,  intent  upon  getting  things 
"  just  right "  and  keeping  them  so,  and  vying 
with  each  other  to  produce  work  which  shall  be 
spotless  and  daintily  neat.  We  do  not  say  that 
cleanliness,  neatness,  and  order  are  necessary  to 
art  and  artistic  productions  in  maturity ;  but  we 
do  say  that  little  children  cannot  deal  successfully 
with  the  kindergarten  materials  and  can  never 
produce  good  results  with  them  until  they  have 
learned  to  treat  them  with  respect  and  care. 

Let  us  open  our  eyes  more  widely  and  look 
upon  our  own  children  with  critical  gaze.  Are 
they  orderly  and  careful,  do  they  respect  the  ma- 
terials which  they  are  handling  ? 


ON  THE  OCCUPATIONS  313 

There  has  been  so  much  insistence  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapters  upon  the  ideal  use  of  Meaiuse 
the  kindergarten  occupations  that  we  Serga^rtelT" 
should  hardly  dare  to  touch  upon  the  ^^^"P^tions. 
subject  again,  were  we  not  assured  that  "repe- 
tition is  the  sheet-anchor  of  the  teacher."  We 
need  to  disabuse  ourselves  of  the  too  prevalent 
idea  that  there  is  a  certain  magic  in  the  materials 
which  will  work  its  beneficent  way,  no  matter 
how  they  are  applied.  True,  the  magic  is  there, 
but  it  is  only  set  free  by  the  right  touch,  by  the 
understanding  hand.  They  may  be  used  to  cher- 
ish the  art-impulse  in  the  learner,  or  to  crush  it 
out  and  stamp  it  under  foot ;  they  may  be  used 
to  further  every  generous  thought  and  feeling  of 
the  child,  or  to  foster  selfishness  and  egotism ; 
they  may  develop  his  individuality  and  his  crea- 
tive and  expressive  powers,  or  simply  train  his 
hand  and  eye  and  make  him  a  deft  automaton, 
alert  in  carrying  out  the  ideas  of  others. 

How  are  we  using  the  occupations,  dear  kinder- 
gartners  ?  Are  we  developing  from  within,  or  im- 
posing from  without  ?  Are  we  giving  the  child 
the  fullest  possible  control  of  himself  and  his 
powers,  or  are  we  turning  him  into  a  superior 
kind  of  machine  ?  There  is  no  safer  time  than 
this  to  ask  and  to  answer  these  questions  :  — 

"  The  clay  is  moist  and  soft ;  now,  now,  make  haste 
And  form  the  pitcher,  for  the  wheel  turns  fast."  ^ 

1  Persius,  Satires,  iii.  23. 


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